#Give it some more months Oscar could carry him around in his big bag
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Che “Taza” Romero x Reader
Word count: 3.1k
Thanks to my lovely beta reader @chibsytelford 💘
Author comments: Another crazy idea. I hope you all enjoy. Gif isn't mine, credits to the author.
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Adjusting the green shirt to your chest, you go out of the clubhouse followed by Creeper drinking a coffee on a cardboard cup. You’re walking faster with your gaze on the front, directly to the car scrapping. It supposed that you should start in one hour, but if you arrive earlier, you can also leave earlier. You don’t want to see Taza after what happened last day, when his ex-wife came to the workshop because her car was having problems with the engine. She talked you as if you were a servant, or something like that, so you couldn't shut up and spoke to her in a sarcastic tone that she didn't like. Of course, she told Taza. At first, you didn’t care, until you saw how they said goodbye, with so much love and affection. Gilly told you that they have been married for almost fifteen years and that she was back to town indefinitely. It was like a shoot straight to your heart.
You aren’t nothing, but for the last months there has been a flirt environment installed between both, always pulling and loosening. But with his ex-wife in Santo Padre and by the way she had of touching him constantly, you know that what you wanted so bad it’s not going to happen. So you’re trying to not match with him. And that hurts. The only thing you can do it’s work and go home. No Mayans parties, no more nights at the clubhouse and no more rides back home on Taza’s bike. You can’t fight with a woman who knows him since ever and who was married with him for too many years. You didn’t know that something like that could happen, he didn’t talk you about her and it seems like it was a surprise for him too.
“Dammit, mama, you look like shet’”. Angel’s confused voice pushes you back to reality, making you shake your head for an instant.
“I didn’t sleep last night”. You shrug your shoulders and arms.
Messed bump, eye bags, no makeup and the shoelaces untied. You sigh after having a look of yourself, leaning down to tie them. The sun seems to disappear, raising your gaze surprised till you find your boss’ eyes, crossing his arms over his chest covered by leather. You swallow quietly, licking your inner lip before continuing with your task.
“Everything ok?” You ask playing fool, hiding your nervous voice for a while.
“I don’ know, everything ok?”
“Yea’, I just… start earlier ‘cause I need to go to Santa Madre”.
“Sure. Why you didn’t come to the ranch last night?”
“Last night? What hap— Oh! Oh!”
Taza raises both eyebrows, while you still playing the innocent one palming your forehead.
“Shit, I forgot the Mayan dinner...” Clicking your tongue, you snort heavy.
“Let me tell you something, (Y/N)”. Facing you with hardly two inches between both, he leans above your ear provoking you some chills. “Soy un perro muy viejo, para que un cachorro me intente engañar”. (I'm a very old dog, and a puppy can't lie to me”.
“I forgot it”. You insist. “I was tired and I fell asleep on the sofa”.
“Look at your face”. The man says without changing his position. “Not everything is what it seems”.
“Ok, boss. I get it”.
Taza doesn't say anything else, hitting his shoulder against yours to pass you away. Rubbing it you turn to the oldest rolling your eyes. Creeper and Angel are staring at you, trying to understand what is happening, but you don't wanna talk about it. Work and go home, that's all you want. The Reyes, putting an arm on your shoulders, shake his head disappointed 'cause he's starting to know what's going on having all the clues on the table.
Going upstairs to the office, you hug Chuckie as soon as you see him, asking for the hours signature quadrant. Your turn is already finished and completed and you also have the afternoon free, so you could rest the time you didn't last night thinking about the things that it's not going to happen, driving you crazy. Leaving the car scrapping' shirt in your hanger, you grab the helmet next to your bag, ready to leave.
And she's there again. You can see her from the top of the stairs, hugging your boss and kissing his cheek as you used to do it. You're going downstairs slow, concentrated on not looking like you're jealous. Yes, you two were nothing, but you feel some kind of things that you would like not to feel right now. Taking off your phone of the pocket, you dissemble when he catches you looking at them, walking towards your motorbike to put the helmet on.
“Wait a second”. You hear some meters away, while your sitting on your bike. “Eh, (Y/N)!”
You want to make that you didn't listen his call, but it would be too evident, so Taza waits for you to reversing and stop again.
“I'm sorry for the hit”.
“Yeah, it was rude”.
“Are you hurry?”
“Yeah, a little”.
“When will you back at home, ah?”
“I don't kn... Why it feels like I'm talking to my father?”
“Because you're so fuckin' annoyin'”.
“Great, thanks. Another bullshit, Taza?”
“You know what? Fuck off”.
“Yeah, pretty one”. Rolling your eyes, containing the tears in them, you turn the engine to run away from the front yard.
Bishop texted you about four pm to tell you that Yuma and Stockton charters were coming to Santo Padre by night, so they're having a party and he needs you along with EZ to attend the bar. That's precisely what you were avoiding to do, be at the clubhouse more time than necessary. But guessing that you should work just for two or three hours accompanied doesn't seems a big trouble to deal with. So you're in.
Driving you car, 'cause it's gonna be easy to come back home after the party, you reach the car scrapping parking there so your Camaro will be safe in case that anyone decided to start a friendly fight. They usually do, for no reason. Last time, your motorbike suffered the consequences, even if they took care of the fixed. Walking betwixt a lot of crap mountains, your steps go straight to the green main door with mayans symbols finding the crowded yard. Stockton are already there, mixed with the Santo Padre' ones. EZ whistles you, claiming for your attention with that charming smile he always have on his face. You greet the guys raising your chin for a second, whilst going close to the prospect.
“Take the Jose Cuervo in the warehouse, I'm on my way for beers”.
“Okay”. You nod then, turning to the right and guiding your legs to the huge metallic structure by a side of the clubhouse.
Grabbing the trolley at the entrance, you walk towards the end of the warehouse to leave it there, so you can place five boxes on it. Bishop calls to the door, even if it's opened asking you for come in without words. He walks in, closing it and resting his body against a shelving.
“You ok, kid?”
“Yea', just a bad night, prez”. You nod showing a soft and fleeting smile, presing the low rod of the trolley leaning to you and putting im by the two wheels.
“You didn' came to the dinner”.
“I'm sorry, I forgot it”.
“Did you?”
Leaving a sigh on air, you don't know what to say, pursing your lips as you place your gaze in nowhere.
“I saw you… kinda arguing with Taza this morning. Twice”.
“I—”.
“You know you can talk to me, rai'?” He sounds serious, crossing his arms.
“I just… made some illusions. The kind that fuck you down, when you realize that they're… just that. Illusions”.
“I know what you're talkin'bout. Play smart, kid. You're not stupid”.
Might be the best advice someone could give you, and you know you should. But sometimes, you can't simply do it. After leaving you there, you continue your walk to the clubhouse, going upstairs carefully with the tequila boxes. Opening the door with a push of your back, EZ notices you ready to help you. When everything is placed, the prospect offers you a shirt with the Mayans logo to change it for yours. Like somekind of uniform.
Once you're wearing it, you walk outside to receive the Yuma charter, hugging Canche as soon as he sees you.
“What's up, chamaca?”
“Not much, just another party working, not enjoying”.
“When you finish, make a place fo' me in your busy schedule. I need some help with my bike”. He says placing a hand on your shoulders, so you can follow him to his men to greet them too.
“Sure! I'll let you know when I'm done”.
A car coming calls your attention, turning under Canche's grip, to find the owner.
“What the hell…? Isn't that Taza's ex-wife?”
“Yep”.
“What she doin'ere?” The president asks you confused.
“Don' know. Ask her ex-husband”. You answer with a singing voice and both eyebrows raised.
“That bitch fucked him up”.
“Did she…?”
“Yea', I heard something 'bout a one-night-stand with a Vato. Oscar told us”.
“But they seems so close”.
“Taza is a good man, you know him”.
“Yea'...”
Pursing your lips at the man, you shrugs before start with your tasks of serve beers and tequila shot for everyone there, with EZ help. You can't help but thinking about that woman who came from nowhere with some kind of clear intentions, and now you're understanding was what Bishop trying to tell you. “Play smart”. So you will. Grabbing the coldest beers and putting them on a tray, you carry them to the first picnic table outside, where the main members of your charter are sitting. Leaving there, one for each one, you sit close to the Padrino who puts an arm around your waist.
“You look good in that shirt, kid”. He says proud, having a look from top to down. Since you started to work there, he has been the most gentle man on earth with you and it's something to be thankful for. “How's your week goin'? Didn' see you last night”.
“Tired week, need to rest, padrino”.
“You look like. Are they treating you good, or taking advantage that you're so helpful, ah?”
“To be that ‘helpful’ you have to show some respect first”. You hear that irritating feminine voice behind your back, before she appears in front of your eyes with a hand on Taza's left shoulder.
“Take off that Vato's dick of your mouth, before talking about my kid”. Padrino's voice is calm and peaceful, surprising you about it, and creating an uncomfortable silence on the table.
You're fucking done. Done in a good mood, 'cause well, no one piss off padrino's kid. Palming his back, you get up of your seat to grab the tray and go back to work, as soon as Oscar claims your attention to ask for some beers. At least, now you know what happened, even if you're trying to figure what's she doing here. Not for you, but for Taza. Because she doesn't deserve someone like him, not after what she did. Double disloyalty. And that's screwing you more than you thought.
Even if it's something that it's in your head all the time, you make sure that doesn't influence in your work, letting it for later. And when you're already finished with it, leaving EZ with the rest, you go straight to Canche. As soon as you're done with him too, you can be close to Taza to make it up to him because of your paranoia. And so you do, sharing the same table with a beer in your hand. You don't know why his ex-wife continue there, but you don't care. Not anymore. Sitting in front of him, again by padrino's side and Bishop at the other, you try to get in the conversation. Easy task 'cause they're talking about a travel coming soon, and they need your help to check the motorcycles before leaving.
“Okay, I can do it tomorrow evening. Just leave me the keys at the office”. You say then supporting both forearms on the table, nodding for a while. “So, gas, oil and pressure… Yeah, it's fast to do'et”.
“Can you check my bike's direction? I think it's a little bit turned to the left”. Taza says then, and you know that's only a excuse to talk with you. Like, right now.
“Is it?” You hesitate, raising an eyebrow before having a sip of your drink, getting up of your bench.
“Yea', and the brake is a little hard. I think EZ squeezed too much”. He's getting up too, letting go the uncomfortable grip of his ex-wife.
“Okay, let's see”.
He walks next to you, offering you the keys so you can turn on his bike. Pressing softly the gas, to do the same with the brake. It's not. But seems like he wants to leave the yard, at least, for some minutes.
“I have the tools in my car”. You say then, turning of the engine to push the handlebar so you can make it moves.
Going down the alley, with the Vicepresidente behind your back smoking a cigar, you reach the Camaro. You don't have any tools on it, but you really want to hear what he wants to tell you. So you simply leave the motorbike parked, next to your car, and resting your body sitting on it giving him the keys.
“She asked me to stay at the ranch”. He says then, keeping them inside one of his pockets. Sounds like you should reply something, but you'll not. It's his house, not yours. “I don' know what she doin'ere. But I don' even care”.
“Good for you, Taza”. You shrug with pursed lips.
“Let's be clear, kid. We're nothing”.
“Okay, I'm done with this bullshit”. You laugh loud getting up from his bike, and shaking your hands, trying to hide the bitterness and looking for the control remote of your car.
“Listen, listen”. Catching you by your left wrist, he stops your moves.
“It's fuckin' okay, Taza. You don' have to give me any explanation. I'm not your... fuckin' wife, nor your fuckin' girl. I get it. But let me tell you something. It's fucking grievous seeing a woman how fucked you up with a fuckin' Vato, trying to get back what she lost. And you, let her doin'et. You deserve good things, and you should love and respect yourself a little more”.
“Well, than'ya' for your kindly words. But I'm not letting her doin' nothen'. And I also talk her 'bout you”.
“Seems like she doesn' give a f— You did what?” Narrowing your eyes and letting you go, you cross your arms on the chest.
“We're nothing, but I would like to be something”. He clarifies you. “I asked her to leave and just came to pay what we fixed in her car. She stayed for a beer”.
“Yes, close of his ex-husband”.
“Focus on the fact I wan'to be with you, and not with her. Think about'e”.
Taza leaves you there, alone, carrying his bike when seems like you don't know what to reply at this words. Sitting on the hood of your car and lighting a cigar between your lips, you have a long smoke that rips your throat and also your tongue. You're somewhat jealous, you can't help but trying to see the point of playing smart to mark somekind of territory without looking like he's a piece of meat. But with that kind of women, it's all you can do.
Putting well your shirt on, after throwing away the cigar, you walk towards the front yard with hands in your pockets. Some ideas are dancing in your head, trying to choose the best way to deal with it. But when you see her, sitting again by his side, and trying to hug him… Good lord, you can't help but losing your modals and your gentle mood.
“Che, take me home”. You just say, stopping in front of the crew.
“Haven't you a car, ah?” She asks raising her chin somewhat proudly, grabbing the Vice's arm between hers.
“Haven't you a Vato's dick to suck, instead of annoying everyone around you?”
God, those words come from the depths of your soul. Making the guys chuckle as she gets up full of rage.
“Watch your mouth, niña. You don' know who I am”. Pointing your chest with a finger once and again.
“Yea', looks like I don' give a shit that I don' even know your name”. You face her, not afraid. “Southern border is close, come back to your hole, whore. You don' have anything to do here”.
“Did you ju—”.
“Shit, yes, I did”. You roll your eyes, being fast enough to avoid the slap straight to your face.
El padrino takes you back, as Bishop and Angel go to her before she can try it again.
“You heard her, go back to southern border”. Taza says placing himself between both, turning then to hold your forearm and leave the front yard.
You don't say anything into your way to his motorbike, putting on the helmet as he turns it on. Grabbing his waist with your hands, he runs out of the clubhouse. You know he's mad. You can feel the tension on his body, driving the road he knows by heart to your house, taking his time as he looks like he's thoughtful.
When he stations the bike in front of your house, so you can jump off of it, you keep his gaze.
“'You gonna leave?” You ask him a little bit nervous, taking off the helmet to supporting it against your abdomen.
“'Don' know. What you want?”
Hesitating for a second, you take a step closer placing a hand on his nape, to press your lips on his. It's the first time you two kiss, after some weeks wanting it. He pulls you away, thinking that you screwed it up, until you see him getting up to leave behind his back the motorbike. Cupping your cheeks on his huge hands, Taza kisses you again. Tangling your fingers in the flannel shirt to push him closer, your lips move alone on his. It's better than you could imagine, tasting the tequila in his saliva and beer in yours. A perfect mix.
“So, are you gonna stay?” You almost beg between short and dearly kisses, finding yourself walking to your house, giving your back at it.
“Fuck, yes, baby”. He nods lifting you up, so you can surround his body with your legs.
#mayans mc x reader#mayans mc#mayans mc imagine#mayans x reader#che taza romero x reader#taza romero x reader#taza romero#taza romero imagine
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Oscar Diaz-Six
(MBS)
“I took the pill.” You complain to Oscar,”I told you we should have been using condoms.” You say and run you hand down your face in annoyance, Oscar standing there with a victorious smile,”You did this to me! Again!”
“If I remember correctly it takes two to make a baby.” He chuckles and places the positive pregnancy test down on the dresser,”You weren’t complaining about me not wearing a condom when I was hitting it the other day.”
“Ugh, shut up.” You groan and pull your hair into a messy bun,”You won, congratulations. I’m having another one of your kids.” You weren’t mad, you knew you could have been smarter in preventing yourself from getting pregnant but the truth was you hated what birth control did to your body and you did not like the way a condom felt. You were just annoyed that Oscar was going to rub this in your face forever,”You fucked yourself, because now we’re going to have three kids in our room, you get to explain that to Angel. He already hates sharing the bed with Alex.”
“Those two have a shared room upstairs, and their own beds. So by the time my little girl gets here they are going to be well trained on sleeping by themselves.” Oscar says simply,”They have a few more months left until we have to kick them out.”
“Girl? Ha!” You laugh as you throw one of the couch pillows at him,”I’m positive it’s another boy seeing as we’ve already done this five times.”
“Hormones already changing?” He teases as he lets the pillow hit him in the chest and fall to the ground,”How far along do you think you are with my princesa?”
“Oscar, I swear to you if I have to carry another one of your boys I’m getting my tubes tied.” You pout, ignoring his question
“Mami, you don’t have to worry. It’s a girl, it has to be.” He says as he walks over to you and pulls you into his arms,”Six kids, it’ll be more than perfect.”
“I guess we’ll have to wait and see if your right. Probably not.”
“I will be, try and get an appointment in as fast as you can okay? I want to know how far along you are so we can start planning.”
“I can’t be more than eight weeks, I just took notice in my body changing, but who knows since you almost never manage to pull out in time.” You say smartly
“It’s harder than you think, and it’s not exactly what I’m focused on when I’m trying to finish.” He defends
“Whatever, your pull out game is weak. I’ve known this since you got me pregnant after the first time we ever did anything. Best five minutes of my life.”
“I was sixteen that does not count.” He laughs,”It was more like seven if you want to be technical.”
“You keep telling yourself that papi.” You say with a shake of your head,”Go pick up the kids from you brothers house, I’ll get dinner started. Looks like we got some big news to tell them.”
“Okay.” He says and pecks your lips,”Make sure you eat enough for my bebecita. She’s gonna have a appetite like her daddy.”
“Go away!” You laugh and lightly push him towards the front door,”I’m going to get the last laugh when we find out it’s most definitely not a girl.”
“Wanna bet money?” He challenges as he grabs his keys off the hook.
“Your money is my money, and my money is my money.” You grin
“Niña mimada.” He teases, giving you another kiss,”See you in a bit, love you.” He mutters against your mouth.
“I love you. Drive safe.” You say, not shutting the door until he’s in the car and out of the drive way.
~
“Mommy!” Angel says as runs into the house and hugs your leg tightly”I missed you.”
“I missed you too.” You say and lower the heat on the final smothered pork chops you were making. The sides already done and waiting to be served,”Did you have fun at Uncle Cesar’s?” You ask him, the rest of your family coming in.
“Yeah! We stayed up all night and watched movies.”
“It was not all night. Angel passed out at 10.” Anthony replies amusingly before sending you a wave,”Hi mom.” He says, coming over to give you a side hug,”I’m gonna go put my stuff away.” He informs before heading up the stairs with his over night bag.
“I missed you mommy.” Carlos says, his turn to hug you now,”It smells really good, did you make macaroni?” He asks with a toothy grin.
“Yup. There’s also mashed potatoes and cheesy broccoli.” You tell him as you run your fingers through his hair,”So go upstairs and put your things away, the food will be ready in a few minutes.”
“You got it.” He says, giving you one more squeeze before taking off.
You pick up Angel, checking on the food one last time before heading to the living room, Junior and Oscar in conversation as your husband holds Alexander,”Too old to come say hi to your mom?” You say to your eldest, who was home for the weekend like always. So you were a bit sad when he decided to go over to Cesar’s last night since you only had limited time with him.
“Never.” He grins, towering over you as he gives you a big embrace,”Missed you mom.”
“Hm, what did you get up to last night?” You ask, knowing that out of all of your kids he was the closest with his uncle. Only because they were so close in age and you all lived together up until Cesar hit legal age and moved out.
“Nothing.” He shrugged,”Just chilled with Cesar.”
“Uncle Cesar.” Angel corrects him
“Yeah, yeah, Uncle Cesar.” He chuckles,”Smells good mom, like always.” He compliments, grabbing his own bag as well as the bag that you packed for the two little ones,”I’ll take it to their room.”
“Thank you.” You smile and turn to your husband,”Did your brother say anything about Alex?”
“Just that he was stuck on Monse’s hip all night. Only wanted to be fed, changed, and put to bed by her.”
“Ladies man.” You laugh and swap kids with Oscar, pressing a kiss to your still bald babies head.
“Just like his daddy.” Oscar says amusingly
“Excuse me?” You say with a raised eyebrow,”We’ve been together since we were teenagers. You were never a ladies man. I’m your only lady.”
“I had game before you. That’s how I pulled you so easily.”
“You were trying to get at me since I was 12, I didn’t cave till I was 15.” You respond knowingly, the two of you heading into the dining room so you can sit the boys down in their individual chairs,”And the two girls you did try to show off to make me jealous we’re not even on my level papi.”
“I was still pulling though.” He chuckles as he secures Alexander in the high chair.
“Yeah so was I, remember Javier Gomez? He was in your grade...He was why I didn’t give you the time of the day.” You smirk, Oscar knowing about the little crush you had many years ago.
“Man, you always got to bring him up.” Oscar says with a smack of his lips,”You should have married him if you liked him that much.”
You quickly fix Angel’s hair after he’s in the booster, tying it back in his usual curly ponytail,”See that was my plan.” You start, going to the kitchen to serve the plates,”But another tattooed, muscle shirt wearing cholo got my attention and ended up trapping me with a baby.”
“More like you trapped me.” Oscar says, pressing himself behind you as you put food on all of the plates,”You climbed onto me, we were suppose to be watching tv.” He reminds, pressing a small kiss to the side of your neck, his hands wrapping around you and resting on your stomach,”Now here we are, 20 years later with almost six kids.”
You grin and lean back into him,”Hmh.” You hum, grabbing two of the finished plates and turn around so he can take them to the table,”I’m sure Javier would have given me my daughter by now.” You say, shoving the plates towards him.
“Alright I’m sorry, I was never a ladies man. Please stop bringing his ass up.” Oscar says as he grabs the items with a pout.
You smile and peck his cheek,”Fine, now go put those down and come back for more.”
Oscar nods and does as you say,”Come eat!” You shout, serving more plates as Oscar takes them to the table when they’re ready.
“Thanks mom!” Anthony says as he zooms past you and to his usual seat.
“Mac and cheese!” Carols cheers as he does the same.
“Thanks for cooking.” Junior smiles and takes the last plate to the table for you. You grab the pitcher of water and bring it over to the table, sitting down as you all begin to eat. Alexander just eating the mashed potatoes with his hands, the only thing you served him along with his bottle of milk.
After while when most of the kids are near finished you clear your throat to grab their attention,”So, I have some news. Well me and your dad do.” You start
“Oh god, your pregnant again aren’t you?” Junior guesses,”I’ve been through this conversation four times and you always start it off like that.”
“Three times for me.” Anthony chimes in before taking the final bite off of his plate.
“Are you mommy? Are you having another baby?”Carlos asks excitedly
“Well yes, thanks for that Junior.” You laugh,”I took a test this morning so I don’t know how far along I am exactly.”
“Hey, I’m just saying. I’m use to this.” He shrugs,”Still, congratulations mom. Dad, glad to see your not getting too old.” He jokes as he stands up with his dishes, taking his younger brothers as well.
“You’re not to gown to get smacked around fool.” Oscar jokes as he tosses his balled up napkin at him, Junior laughing as he goes to rinse off the plates.
“Baby?” Angel says, confusion etched on to his face,”Alex is baby.”
“Yes he is a baby, and now mommy has another baby in her belly.” You explain
“Two babies?” He asks with furrowed brows
“Yes, two babies.” You confirm
“No thank you mommy. No more babies.” He decides with a shake of his head
“Well it’s too late for that mijo.” Oscar chuckles, reaching over with a new napkin to clean off Alexander.
“No more brothers.” Angel disagrees
“What if it’s a girl? A sister?” You ask him as you stand up to let him out of his booster chair.
“Yeah! A sister.” Anthony and Carlos say with glee.
“Girl?” Angel repeats, thinking it over,”Okay mommy. Only baby sister, no brother.”
“Let’s hope you’re right.” You laugh and let him run away after setting him down, the other two boys getting up and joining him in the living room to play with the LEGO’s.
“So is this the last one?” Junior asks, coming back for more plates
“See I want to say no, but seeing as all of you guys -besides Alex- were surprises I’m just going to say maybe.”
“It would have been cool if you could have had a baby closer to my age.” Junior says as he takes your plate along with Oscar’s.
“Are you crazy? We were too young and besides we had Cesar to take care of too. He’s practically your hermano.” Oscar answers as he gets up with the baby.
“Still.” Junior shrugs, heading over to the kitchen again to empty his hands.
“Besides you got to enjoy us all by your self, and I got to enjoy my first baby.” You say and bump his side with yours playfully.
“I guess your right.” He smiles as he cleans,”It was fun, sometimes I wish we could go back to the old house and relive the days when it was just us and Cesar.”
“It was fun. I miss it too sometimes.” You admit,”But the future is always better, at least for us it was and is...I’ll finish up. Go study or get some work done.”
“You sure?”
“Yes, go.” You nod and take over, Oscar going ahead and putting Alexander in the bath.
It doesn’t take too long until the kitchen is once again spotless, sending Carlos and Anthony up stairs to get ready for bed. Angel following you into the bedroom,”I take shower with you.” He says, already pulling off his t-shirt and putting it into the hamper.
“Okay.” You laugh, the two of you walking into the bathroom to find Oscar drying off the baby,”All clean?”
“All clean.” He reply’s, reaching for the lotion and lathering up Alex from head to toe.
You don’t reply and run the water, Angel getting completely undressed and running over to his potty chair that sat in the corner.
“All done.” He says aloud, you already in the shower and Oscar dressing Alex.
“Hurry up, before the water gets out.” You urge, pushing open the glass door and letting him step in with you. The two of you taking a quick shower before getting out and drying off. Angel leaving to his room to grab his pajamas and a night pull up.
“You look like your already showing.” Oscar says from where he lays on the bed, Alexander already asleep on his chest.
“I’m just fat.” You laugh as you walk over to the closet, pulling on a over sized tee and a pair of underwear,”I’ve always had this belly.”
“Nah, I know your body. That’s definitely a pregnant belly.” He chuckles, a now dressed Angel coming back into the room and closing the door behind him.
“Scoot over daddy.” He sighs,”You knew I was coming.”
“My fault.” Oscar reply’s, scooting over to his side so Angel could lay in the middle. You shake your head and turn the light off, sliding in the bed and turning some cartoons on for him to fall asleep too.
“I can fit the baby right here.” Oscar informs you, patting his chest,”If it comes down to it.”
“Be quiet.” You laugh
“Sólo estoy diciendo la verdad.”
“We can not co-sleep with three kids. So like I said earlier, you better have these two in their own room by the time this thing inside of me gets here.”
“Yes mam.” Oscar says teasingly,”I can do that easily.”
“It’ll be a walk in the park.” You say sarcastically, already knowing that this was not going to be a easy task to complete. Nothing in your life being a easy task to complete when it came to your family,”I’ll call the doctor in the morning, I’m sure she can schedule me in sometime this week.” You add, referring to the same doctor that you used for all of your kids.
“Just let me know, I’ll try to call off of work.” Oscar says happily.
“Okay.” You yawn, your mind still processing that you were once again creating another human life. That the love between you and Oscar already blossomed 5 amazing boys. That you guys had enough love left to be able to give it one more go. Even if it wasn’t exactly planned on your part you knew that baby was going to bring much more joy into your family’s life. Your lucky little six.
#netflix on my block#omb season 3#omb imagine#one shot#spooky x reader#spooky diaz#oscar diaz x reader#oscar diaz#babyboy#kids#relationship#freeridge#cesar diaz
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i’ll walk through hell with you
chapter 6. i’ll be your arms, i’ll be your steady satellite
read on ao3
read earlier chapters
The Santiago Siblings with families spend a weekend together, Amy’s feeling weird, and Jake’s getting suspicious.
september.
Amy throws out the ovulation tests first. Then, most of the pregnancy tests.
She keeps a few, in case of emergencies, but she hides them so far inside their bathroom cabinet, buried underneath boxes of band-aids and disinfectant wipes, she tells herself it’s the same thing.
She also throws out the vitamin supplements and the gross herbal teas, and puts the cherished pages of the fertility binder through her paper shredder while Jake shakes his head at her.
“You’re being crazy,” he states when she empties the paper confetti in the trash, immediately tying the bag shut and placing it by the door.
“Nope,” she responds. “I’m finally being sane.”
She stops doing yoga, not that she got into a habit with it in the first place. She goes back to her usual diet and coffee habits. She deletes every fertility-related bookmark off of her computer and unfollows all the Instagram accounts she once tried to find support in. There’s a smidge of panic and hard-hitting grief the first few times she sees a pregnant person somewhere, a harsh pain that comes with knowing for certain she’ll never experience it again, but most of all, Amy feels free. As heartrending as the knowledge is, she’d take it over uncertainty any day of the week.
Her days of the week are moving quickly, too. It's like the moment she stopped being consumed by this, the rest of her life caught up with her, and now it’s speeding past. Leah starts her first Tiny Tots preschool class, and her parents cry for a good ten minutes after dropping her off the first time because their baby is growing up and it’s all moving too fast. They start doing proper research on allergy-friendly cats and even schedule a visit at a cattery. Work speeds up and she has to work overtime for more days in a row than she's done since having a kid, making her fear their apartment will fall into pieces and her daughter forget who she is, but she comes home each night to dinner on the table and Leah in pajamas begging her to read a bedtime story. She makes sure to thoroughly thank her husband, especially the night when there’s a takeout box with potato pancakes waiting for her, and promises him a proper reward once the weekend rolls around.
“Cool, cool,” he mumbles half-asleep as he makes himself the little spoon in bed. “Also, while we’re on the topic, those potato pancakes definitely weren’t because Leah and I had ice cream for dinner. In case you were thinking that.”
“Jake.”
“Mm. Goodnight, babe.”
Even without the fertility treatments, her free time between work and family life remains strictly limited, but she does manage to squeeze in something much needed. Every other Thursday night at eight o’clock sharp, Amy finds herself outside the door to Rosa’s apartment, and every night Rosa cuts right to the chase.
“You’re not pregnant?”
“Nope.”
“Not taking any fertility medication?”
“Stopped them all.”
“Take a shot, Santiago.”
She’s decided not to tell more people about her experiences, doesn’t see the point when all she wants is to forget, but every other Thursday night, she vents. Rosa lets her speak, sometimes offering commentary but mostly just nodding, and Amy’s pleasantly surprised to discover it helps.
She’s not alone, and most importantly, she’s going to be okay again.
~
october.
As the end of October arrives, it becomes time for the weekend with all the Santiago siblings and their families renting a cabin upstate. Tony calls it a tradition even though it's the first time they're doing it, but when Amy points this out, he simply shrugs and says it's important to have goals in life.
At first, she's skeptical about it - spending four days in a cabin with fifteen adults, thirteen kids and one dog feels like a polar opposite to the relaxed family time she craves - but it's been forever since she saw them all and she supposes she could use some time away from Brooklyn’s buzzing city life, so they decide to go. She nearly regrets it after three hours in the car with the Frozen-soundtrack on repeat, but then they reach their destination, and all is forgiven when Leah runs to hug all her cousins.
Friday morning, they arrange a big leaf fight in the yard. At first, it's kids against adults, but as more and more children drop out, it becomes Santiago siblings against partners, and as more and more adults drop out too, eventually it's just Amy and Julian against Jake. The fight lasts until Jake starts complaining about there being leaves in his ear. At that point, Amy's laughing so hard her stomach hurts.
“Loser does all the dishes after lunch,” Julian grins, and Jake looks like he's about to cry.
Amy checks in on him after ten minutes. His shirt is wet from the soapy water and she can see the terror in his eyes as he looks to the mountain of dirty plates, glasses, and cutlery, but he’s scrubbing hard at them one by one with furious determination.
“Need any help, babe?” She sneaks her arms around him from behind, pressing a kiss to his neck and pulling out a small twig that’s still stuck in the back of his hair.
“Desperately,” he groans, wiping his hands on his jeans and facing her. “But I have to prove my strength to your brothers.”
“Actually, I’m pretty sure Julian just wanted a reason to see you in a wet t-shirt.”
“He could have just asked.”
Amy laughs, shaking her head. “I’ll help you out.”
He squints. “Are you sure? You look kind of... tired.”
She raises an eyebrow.
“Not like that,” he says, rolling his eyes. “But you look a little - I don’t know - pale? Did you not have coffee this morning?”
“Yeah, but I didn’t finish it. Creamer tasted weird.” He opens his mouth to say something, but she shuts him up with a glare. “I’m fine. Come on, I’ll help you finish these.”
-
They manage to get done right on time for a family walk in the woods. Leah makes it about a quarter of a mile before she starts complaining, so Jake carries her on his shoulders, which results in immediate chaos and tears from David’s twins when they demand the same and David can’t carry them both. Amy helps her brother by carrying Samuel on her shoulders, but the kid must have dog hair on his clothes from playing with Julian's dog, because her nose gets stuffy after only a minute. If it weren’t for the animal being straight-up adorable, or for Leah's excitement when Julian asks her if she wants to hold Oscar’s leash for a minute, Amy swears she would be yelling at this dog, too.
The stuffy nose lasts for the entire afternoon, and she curses the fact that she forgot her allergy nasal sprays at home. Luckily, she’s surrounded by plenty of good distractions, and the afternoon disappears in a jumble of trying to keep different children from hurting themselves or others while also trying to make sure they’re happy, and if she’s not watching any kids, she’s trying to keep up with what feels like a billion different conversations going on at the same time. It’s enough to make anyone exhausted. She tries to have another cup of coffee, black this time to avoid the probably-bad creamer, but she only gets down a few sips before her throat goes all dry and she has to breathe real hard for the nausea to pass. She pours out the rest in the kitchen sink.
Despite her tiredness and stuffy nose and sudden coffee aversion, Amy has a lovely day. When afternoon becomes evening, everyone who isn’t cooking dinner makes their way down to the nearby lake to watch the sunset. Leah’s in Jake’s arms with her head on his shoulder, looking all cozy in her purple fluffy hoodie as she sings the lyrics to Moana in the wrong order, and Amy can’t fight the urge to kiss her sweet little face until Leah grimaces and says stop, mama, hiding her face in Jake’s shirt as he laughs.
They’re her favorite sight in the world - the love of her life, and the child who’s held Amy’s whole heart in her hands since the first time she waved to them on an ultrasound screen over three years ago. Jake whispers something to Leah that Amy can’t hear, the girl giggles, and her heart aches with how much she loves them. She may never get the kids-plural family she pictured in her younger days, but she gets this, and it’s better than anything she could have imagined.
-
When all the kids have gone to bed - save for seven-month-old Charlie, who’s wide awake and happy to get passed around between different pairs of arms - the adults gather in the living room for a chance at uninterrupted conversation and a glass of wine. Amy finds space in the corner of a couch, with Jake on her left and Tony’s wife Clara in an armchair on her right, and gratefully accepts the glass of red wine Lucas gives her. She takes a sip, first enjoying the taste, but the second sip tastes off and the third is awful. She tries to hide her grimace as she puts it down on the side table and asks for a glass of water instead.
She's not really listening to the conversation, zoning out and just enjoying the comfort of Jake's arm around her shoulders, but Clara nudging her arm gets her attention.
“Do you want to hold Charlie for a while, Amy?”
“I’d love to,” she says, and the next second there's a baby in her arms who's shooting her the brightest of toothless smiles and reaching for her necklace. Charlie’s chubby fingers try to grab the L and J-pendants, so she gently separates his hands from them and he starts playing with a sling of her hair instead.
“Oh, you're strong,” she laughs as he grips it. “Wow.”
“Tell me about it,” Clara laughs. “Sometimes he’s lucky he’s cute.”
Amy smiles. The baby is already snuggling his head into her chest, making himself comfortable. He's truly adorable with round cheeks and light-ginger hair, melting her heart as he grips onto her shirt.
She's missed this. Still, it’s less painful now that she knows - she might never have more babies of her own, but she’ll always have plenty of nephews and nieces to hold, cuddle and play with.
“You're adorable,” she whispers to Charlie with a kiss to his forehead. “Yes, you are.”
“Hey, Amy?” David catches her attention from the opposite couch. “Aren't you guys going to have more kids?”
She can feel Jake freeze next to her.
“We’ve thought of it,” she says calmly. “But we landed on one kid. We’re happy with that.”
Jake squeezes her shoulder.
“Really? Huh.” David nods in surprise. “Don’t you want more kids, Jake?”
“It's not my decision to make,” he shrugs, like it was an obvious fact. “I'm just hoping we can get a cat soon.”
Charlie falls asleep in Amy's arms, staying there even as people begin to drop out and head to bed. She gives him back to Tony when it’s time for a diaper change, closing her eyes and leaning against Jake's chest once her arms are free again.
“You okay, Ames?”
“Yeah,” she promises. “Just sleepy.”
“You didn't drink anything,” he notes, nodding to her untouched glass.
“Did you try the wine?” He nods. “I hated it. I think Julian has crappy taste in alcohol.”
Jake shrugs. “It tasted fine to me. Maybe your taste buds are being weird.”
“Or I have better taste than you.” She kisses him on the cheek. “Let's go to bed, babe.”
-
She’s barely closed her eyes before Leah climbs into their bed, full of energy as she makes space between her parents.
“I wanna go outside and play,” she insists, and when this doesn’t garner enough of a response, she frowns. “It’s morning!”
Amy reluctantly opens her eyes to reach for her phone, reading the time. “Half-past seven.” Weird. They went to bed at one a.m. and Leah’s slept through the night, yet it feels like she was woken up after ten minutes.
“Hey, I have an idea,” says Jake, pulling his daughter close and tickling her neck. “How about we play in here for a while? I have a great idea for something.”
“What?”
“Well, you see, bumblebee, you’re a super brave space pirate. This bed is your spaceship, and mama and I are your innocent, weak humans that you’ve captured.” He yawns. “The rules are that we have to lay still. If we move, we’ll fall out into space and, uh, die.”
“Okay! Dada, still!”
“I love this game,” Amy mumbles, pulling the covers closer around herself.
The spaceship game lasts a full ten minutes before Leah tires, deciding that her parents are too boring captives for her taste and starting a new game that circles around her trying to jump from the bed onto her mattress in increasingly creative and less-than-safe ways. Jake defuses the situation before she tries to do a backflip, suggesting that they get out of bed and see if any other cousins are up yet, and Amy tries to open her eyes again. It’s painful - her body screams for more sleep, and she channels this into the pleading look she gives Jake.
“Can I get another half hour? I feel like I’m going to collapse if I get up now.”
“Huh.” A line appears between his brows. “Are you sure you’re fine?”
“Yeah,” she yawns. “I just need thirty minutes, like I said.”
“Okay, I’ll wake you up when there’s breakfast - Lee, wait!”
He disappears out the door chasing after their daughter, and Amy sighs in relief as she lets her eyes fall closed again.
It still feels like no time has passed before Jake comes to tell her the thirty minutes are up, but she forces herself to get out of bed anyway. They have a long day ahead of them, and Amy’s not risking getting teased by her brothers for wanting to sleep in. Instead, she throws on a hoodie to hide the fact that she’s freezing, and pours herself a big cup of coffee at the breakfast table. She manages four sips before it threatens to come back up again. Luckily, one-year-old Milo chooses that exact moment to almost choke on his piece of toast, and no one except for Jake seems to notice the gagging expression on her face as she tries to swallow everything back down.
She must be getting the flu, or maybe she’s picked up some other bug from her daughter. She’s cold, a little dizzy, and the stuffy nose refuses to pass even though she keeps away from the dog. They go to play in the woods while the sun is still shining, and Amy’s enjoying herself as she watches Jake run with Leah in his arms towards a tree, touch her feet against the wood and yell Parkour! only to make the girl lose it with laughter every time, but she’s so tired when they get home, she’s barely sat down in an armchair before she’s nodded off again.
“Hey, Ames.” Jake’s firm hand on her shoulder makes her return to consciousness. His mouth is set in a hard line, and there’s a seriousness to the way he watches her that reminds her of the way he gets whenever she’s really sick, all worried and overly protective like he thinks she’ll instantly drop to the floor if he’s not right there. “Can we talk in private?.”
She nods, following him back to their bedroom where he closes the door. He sits down cross-legged on Leah's mattress, and she takes her chance to lay down on the bed, propping her head up with two pillows. “Okay. What’s up?”
He gives her a scrutinizing look. “Are you sure you’re just tired?”
“I mean, I feel a little off, I’m sort of dizzy and my allergies are annoying.” She sniffles. “Probably coming down with some bug. Why?”
“Your immune system is way better than mine, though. I’m always the first one to get sick after Leah and I’m fine. I don’t even think she’s been ill in weeks. Isn’t it weird that you’re the only one feeling sick?”
Amy shrugs. “Exception that proves the rule?”
“Yeah, or you’re not sick.”
“What do you mean?”
“Ames,” he says in a low voice, his tone slightly hesitant. “You don’t think there’s a chance you might be - I don’t know, pregnant?”
“Come on. How would that have happened?”
“Uh -”
She rolls her eyes. “Sure, but I think we established my body didn’t want it to happen for us again.”
“Maybe, but face the facts. You’re exhausted, your taste buds are funny, and you were like, seconds away from throwing up your coffee this morning. You’re cold, you’re dizzy…” He counts on his fingers as he lists the symptoms. “It sounds a lot to me like before we found out you were pregnant with Leah?”
“Or it sounds like it's been a couple of intense months, my body's fighting an infection and I’m getting ill once I'm relaxing.”
“Have you gotten your period this month?”
She glares at him. “Stop.”
“Well, have you?”
She sighs and pulls out her phone from her pocket, opening it to her period tracker. Current Cycle - day 33. “It's a few days late.”
Jake’s eyes go wide.
“No.” She shakes her head before he can say anything. “Nope. That doesn't mean anything. My cycle got screwed up after the treatments and they said it could take months to return to normal.”
“Yeah, but…”
“No. Seriously. We both know I’m not pregnant.”
He squints. “We do?”
“Yes. And I can’t let myself think about it, Jake, because if I do…” She bites her lip at the crystal-clear memories of ovulation strips, shots and negative pregnancy tests, of feeling betrayed by her own body time and time again. “I’ll start to go crazy. I just got away from that obsessive headspace. I can’t go there again, I can’t have another negative staring me in the face, I just… can’t.”
He nods slowly, gaze still full of worry as he sits down next to her. “Okay. I just thought I’d ask.” His hands rub soft circles on her neck to ease the tension there, his lips brushing against hers for a few seconds. “Love you.”
“Love you too.” She sighs. “God, I need another nap.”
“I’ll make an excuse for you,” he says, and she swears she’s never been more in love with him in her entire life.
-
Jake doesn’t bring it up again, and Amy’s grateful. It's not that she doesn't wish for his suspicions to be true - her falling pregnant naturally would be a miracle - but she can't let herself think about it, let alone hope. She spent a year hoping and it led nowhere. This isn't the first time she's imagined symptoms that turned out to be nothing. If she lets herself have hope another time, only to be faced by cruel disappointment, she's certain she's going to shatter.
The weather changes from gorgeous sunshine to heavy rainfall, effectively locking every present Santiago family member inside of the cabin and creating yet more chaos. Luis and Christian organize a game night for the kids, first consisting of child-friendly memory-games and puzzles, but as more and more kids go to bed, eventually the adults drag out Monopoly and get drunk. They also get insanely competitive. When Simon starts threatening Tony about having him do another challenge for his YouTube channel, and Tony threatens to wrestle Simon right there on the floor, the game is quickly changed to Cards Against Humanity which soon becomes a dangerous game of Never Have I Ever. Amy opts for alcohol-free wine, and it’s probably lucky, because her brothers are ruthless. Never have I ever had a catastrophic double date - drink. Never have I ever made out with someone at work - drink. Never have I ever accidentally startled a man with a genetic heart condition, resulting in his immediate death - drink, remind Julian he’s an asshole, and come up with a good revenge question. She’s relieved they go to bed before anyone can suggest a game of truth or dare.
The next day, she's feeling much better, and manages almost half a cup of coffee without nausea. She must've been right about it being some kind of infection, she thinks, pleased that it seems to be passing.
The weather isn't improving, so she teams up with a few of her brothers and their families to go to a nearby, kid-friendly, museum while Jake, Julian, and Simon visit a sneaker outlet. Leah finds an activity station and plays there for nearly fifteen minutes with her cousins before breaking down in tears when someone takes a crayon from her, and after it’s been another ten minutes of crying, Amy eventually chalks the child’s sudden fury down to low blood sugar. She ruffles through her bag for a snack and finds an unopened bag of dried mango, and two slices later, Leah is back to normal. Amy also finds an unopened tampon package, giving her a nudging reminder that her period’s still nowhere to be seen, but she shakes away the thought. Had this been a couple of months ago, she would've been rushing to take a test, and she gives herself a mental pat on the back for acting so calm about it now. She knows this means nothing and she's not stressing out. There’s this tingling, cramping, feeling low in her stomach anyway, aching for a moment before immediately fading. Surely that must mean her period is coming.
They go to bed early on their last night away, ready for the drive home the next day. Leah wakes up crying about a nightmare, so Amy ends up sleeping next to her in their bed with Leah's little legs curled against Amy's stomach and her hand gripping her wrist. As far as sleeping positions go, she could think of far more comfortable or ergonomic ones, but there's no denying the coziness of it. Leah snuggles her nose into the crook of Amy's neck, and Amy falls asleep just smelling her head, and if she’d ever been asked to describe the word peaceful with one situation, she would have chosen this.
-
At first, she thinks she's dreaming about a real past event. She's back in the bedroom of their apartment, with Jake sleeping on her right and Leah asleep in her room, but Amy's awake. She can't tell why, isn't fully aware of the narrative here, but she can tell that dream-Amy has an instinct. Something is causing her to get out of bed, walk towards their bathroom and grab a pregnancy test - one of the cheap paper strip ones - from a visible spot in the bathroom cabinet. Something is making her take it. Dream-Amy watches the test, sitting perched on the toilet and staring intently at the first line, and after what feels like the blink of an eye inside of her dream-reality, a second, faint but clear, line shows up.
Even though it's a dream, the explosive happiness is every bit as real as if she'd been awake. She takes the paper strip, wrapping it in a bit of toilet paper, and is about to go ask dream-Jake if he can see it too when she’s pulled out of the dream and back to reality.
“What the hell,” she mumbles as she opens her eyes. Jake and Leah are still sleeping, and it's every bit as dark outside as when they went to bed, but Amy's wide awake and officially weirded out. She's never been one for dream analysis or seeing them as omens of any kind, but something about the realistic feeling has caught her attention, leaving her confused and wondering if there’s any truth to it. She tries to repeat to herself that there isn’t, she isn’t pregnant and should go back to sleep, but her mind is reeling. She tries to do some breathing exercises to force her mind and body back to a relaxed state, but it’s out of reach. The what if-narrative plays on repeat in her head, and eventually, she accepts that she’s going to need to at least outrule the possibility. She’s pretty sure there’s a spare test left somewhere in her bag.
Carefully, she frees herself from the three-year-old’s grip and climbs over Jake instead. He grunts and opens his eyes for a second, but closes them again in the next.
Amy uses her phone’s flashlight to dig through the contents of her bag, finding her calendar, pencil case, notebooks, and a crossword magazine. Headphones, painkillers, an extra phone charger. More snack bars and packets of dried fruit. Wet wipes, tissues, hair ties, and some makeup. She moves on to the inner pocket, finding allergy medication, tampons, even an expired condom that seems to have nestled its way into the bottom of the bag and stayed there for years, but no spare pregnancy tests. She almost thinks she’s found one, but a closer look tells her it’s an ovulation indicator, and she groans with disappointment. She could have sworn she left one for emergencies, but suddenly it’s gone, and she could wait until tomorrow and buy one, but she wants - scratch that, she needs - to know now.
“Ames? Are you looking for something?” Jake’s voice is raspy, a mix of surprise and pure confusion in his tone, and she hums vaguely without looking back at him.
“I thought I had something in here,” she says in a whisper. “But I can’t find it. It’s nothing, you can go back to sleep.”
“What’re you tryna find?”
She sighs. “I had a weird dream, okay? So I want to take a pregnancy test, because I just need to know it wasn't real so I can go to sleep. I thought I had one in here, but I don’t, so…”
He yawns, and then, in a movement far swifter than she would expect from someone barely-awake, he gets out of bed and walks over to the plastic bag he brought home from the sneaker outlet.
“Jake, I’m sorry, but I don’t care about your sneakers right now,” she wheezes. He shakes his head and brings out another, smaller CVS plastic bag.
“I know,” he says, “but you might care about this.” He throws her a familiar, pink-and-white carton, and she’s not even caught it before she knows exactly what it is.
“You bought a pregnancy test.”
He nods.
“What - when - why?”
“There was a CVS close to the outlet, I told Julian and Simon I needed to buy some Aspirin, ran in and got this. They didn’t see it,” he assures her, noticing the worry on her face. “I was smooth. And as for why - I know you said you didn’t want to hope, but I thought in case you changed your mind and wanted to know, well... “ He shrugs. “It would suck if you were stuck here with no way of finding out, even if it was just another day. I know how much you hate not knowing.”
She twists the carton in her hands. “I really do hate it.”
“So, are you…”
“I’m going to take it. Now.”
“Now - now?”
“Now.”
There’s a beat of silence, and then they’re silently racing each other out the door.
Amy’s so used to the steps at this point, she doesn’t even feel the anxiety kick in until she places the test on the sink and nods at Jake to start the timer. There’s barely space for them both to sit on the floor of the tiny bathroom, so they’re squeezed together, him stroking her hair and holding her hand as she focuses on keeping her breathing steady.
It doesn't matter what it shows, she tries to tell herself without success. It’s just to check.
And yet, there's this odd sense of hope in her heart she doesn't recognize from the last months.
“How did you guess?” She asks Jake, and he wrinkles his forehead, so she clarifies. “You remembered all the symptoms.”
“Oh.” He blushes. “This is going to sound bad, but… do you remember before we found out you were pregnant with Lee? There was like a week before you took a test, where you kept complaining about how it felt like you were getting the flu, or some kind of infection, because you were feeling off.” He draws quotation marks with his fingers. “You kept repeating that. And I was so proud of myself, because I'm always the first one of us two to get sick, but I was feeling fine. I thought I’d finally get to brag, and I was so excited, but then we found out you weren't sick.”
“Just pregnant.”
“Yeah.” He smiles. “Which, of course, was so much better. Except I never got to brag. It's haunted me since then. So this time, when you said you were feeling off and like you were getting sick… I remembered, and I made a guess. Also, I’ve read the list in your binder. But honestly, it was mostly the first thing.”
Amy laughs, genuine and hearty despite her nervosity. “You're ridiculous.”
He puts his arm around her shoulders. “And yet you keep wanting to have kids with me.”
“It’s like I must be in love with you or something.”
Her comment makes him snicker, and she thinks, not for the first time, that there could never be another person she'd want to do this with - no matter the results on that test.
The timer rings. Jake turns it off.
“Do you want to check, or should I?”
“I don't think I can see another negative test,” she whispers, the fear making her heart beat out of her chest, and he nods and tells her to close her eyes. She hears him fumble for the test, and then he finds it, and there’s a moment’s silence that drives her crazy.
“Ames?”
“Yeah?”
“What’d you say two lines meant, now again?”
She opens her eyes, immediately snatching the test from his hands. “No way.”
It’s faint, but there’s an obvious second line.
Amy just stares at it. She's worried it’ll disappear, like her mind’s playing tricks on her, but it stays.
“This is crazy.” Tears of happiness flood her eyes once she speaks. “This is - this is absolutely insane.”
“Told you so,” says Jake in an attempt of sounding smug, but she can tell he’s about to tear up, too.
“This is positive.”
“Sure is.”
“Oh my god.” She can’t tell if she’s laughing or crying, but she’s shaking, unable to believe her eyes as she looks from the test to Jake and back at the test. “Oh my god, you’re going to brag about this forever.”
He grins. “Consider the fact that I won’t to be a testament to how much I love you.”
She’s too overwhelmed to know what to say, so she just hugs him, smiling into his chest as he peppers kisses to the top of her head.
“Hey, Ames?”
“What?”
“We’re having another baby.”
She’s spent a year wishing for it, getting used to the thought in her desperation to get there, yet his words are impossible to take in. Another baby.
“Seems that way,” she whispers, and he laughs.
There’s a second test in the carton, and Amy wants to take it right away, but Jake convinces her to save it for tomorrow so they can go back to bed before anyone notices they’ve been occupying this bathroom for a suspicious amount of time.
She doesn’t think she’ll be able to sleep, not when a thousand thoughts are running laps in her head and she’s so in shock she thinks she might still be dreaming, but then Jake’s hand sneaks under the hem of her t-shirt and rests low on her stomach to make sure they're warm, he mumbles, and she places her own hand over his and relaxes.
~
november.
Logically, Amy knows she’s pregnant.
All of the tests, a new one every day even though Jake tells her she’s being crazy again, are coming back two dark lines and plus signs and bolded words Pregnant, and the expensive test with the week indicator which shows how long it’s been since ovulation changes from 1-2 to 2-3 and 3+ Weeks. The fertility clinic gives her a blood test, confirms it’s a healthy pregnancy and schedules an early ultrasound two weeks later, which feels like an eternity. Time is moving excruciatingly slow, even slower when the nausea fully kicks in and she wants to spend as much of the day as possible laying down. She’s secretly happy she’s feeling terrible because that means the hormone levels are rising, and Jake insists on high-fiving her after the first time she throws up, but it does make the days feel even longer when all she wants is for them to pass.
Emotionally, the knowledge is much more difficult to wrap her head around. She’s terrified, analyzing every minuscule shift in her body in fear of there being something wrong and checking for blood in her underwear several times a day. She’s short on distractions, because she’s exhausted and moving too much makes her feel sick, so she’s mostly stuck on the couch after work watching movies and cuddling with Leah. They're not telling her yet - they're not telling anyone, except Rosa who figured it out soon as Amy declined a tequila shot - and Amy feels like a shitty parent who doesn't have the energy to run around and properly play with her kid right now, but Leah seems to get that her mom’s not feeling well, because she's more than happy to read books together and watch iPad until Jake comes home and takes her to the park for a bit.
She wants to be happy, and every time she adds another positive test to the growing collection, she is, but she’s also dreaming nightmares and waking up in cold sweats in fear that this will be taken away from them. It’s too good to be true, the kind of happy ending you read about but never experience, and she can’t for the life of her try to fathom that it’s real. In short, she’s so hormonal she cries at stubbing her toe in the doorway, so nauseous she has to force down the few things she can consider eating, feeling guilty over how little energy she has to give Leah and how much responsibility this puts on Jake, and she can’t even allow herself to trust that they are having another baby.
“This isn’t forever,” Jake tells her on a particularly exhausting evening after she's cried in his arms and eaten three lemon popsicles because they're the only thing that tastes remotely good. When she's cried a little more, about her fear and bad conscience and the deep shame in not being able to feel happy about something she's dreamt of for a year, he tells her, “just three more days until the scan,” and that does help.
-
Amy doesn’t want to exaggerate, but she’s pretty sure the hours between six a.m., when Leah wakes up, and nine a.m., when the ultrasound appointment is, are the longest three hours of her life. Mornings are enough of a struggle to get through with a stubborn three-year-old who’ll put up a fight about anything from clothes to breakfast to brushing her teeth if she’s in the wrong mood, and they’re not made any easier when Amy’s feeling like this, but it’s moving particularly slow today when nearly all of her focus is divided between worrying about the scan and trying to keep her breakfast down. In the end, Leah doesn’t brush her teeth this morning and she has a yogurt smoothie in the car, but they manage to drop her off in time and she gives them a long hug each, so Amy considers it a success.
Unfortunately, it’s a temporary one. She’s so nervous she can’t think straight, can’t focus on the Taylor Swift-tunes playing in the car or reply when Jake asks if she’s excited. Her head is playing possible nightmare scenarios on a loop, of there not being anything there, of them not seeing a heartbeat, or something else that will leave them no choice but to terminate the pregnancy. Taylor Swift sings something about cloaks and daggers and bright mornings, and Amy tries to see if she can memorize the lyrics for a distraction. She doesn’t get far before they get stuck in a traffic jam, though, giving them no option but to drive a few feet at a time, accelerating and braking on repeat.
She knows that Jake tries to drive as smoothly as possible. He’s a good driver. She doesn’t have a problem with his driving, but the constant starting and stopping, the inevitable jerking movements, is absolute hell for her morning slash all-day sickness and suddenly all her focus has shifted to trying not to throw up in a moving car.
“I’m really sorry, Ames,” says Jake after casting one glance at her pale complexion, and she doesn’t dare to move her head but she mumbles a ‘not your fault’ before she goes back to taking deep breaths.
She makes it through the congestion, and the nausea’s easing as they drive the last stretch to the clinic, but then there’s a slight bump as they drive into the parking lot and the fight is lost. She stumbles out of the car in search of a trash can, but it’s too far away. Instead, she has to publicly humiliate herself by throwing up right there on the curb just as another couple is walking out of the clinic and giving her what she assumes are grossed-out looks. She feels Jake’s hands on her shoulders as she coughs up the last bit, grimacing at the foul taste.
“Everyone’s going to think I’m hungover,” she mutters as he leads her to a spot further away, urging her to sit down.
“Oh yeah. That’s definitely what they think about all the women who puke outside of fertility clinics.”
His comment makes her laugh, but the laughter makes her feel sick again, so she stops.
“You okay?” He asks, carefully scratching her neck with one hand as he digs in his messenger bag with the other. “I have water if you want to rinse your mouth, and I’m pretty sure I have gum somewhere.”
“I’ll take water,” she says, accepting the green kid-size bottle that was definitely originally Leah’s and taking a cautious sip. “Sorry about this.”
“You’re sorry?” He lifts an eyebrow. “Damn, queen of unnecessary apologies. It’s okay.”
“I feel like crap,” she groans, ignoring him. “Sorry for whining.” “Okay there, ridiculous. Stop apologizing. It’s not something you can control.”
“But I don’t want to whine about this,” it comes out of her before she can stop it. “I don’t want to be sad, or scared. We fought so damn hard to get here! It fucking sucked! And now - I guess we’re having a baby, but I don’t know how to believe that, and I have to deal with the fact that pregnancy sucks, too!” She shakes her head, instantly regretting the quick movement but continuing to speak anyway. “I just want to be happy, and grateful, and I am. But I’m terrified. I can’t trust that it’s really happening, that it won’t be taken away from us again, and on top of that I feel awful all the time. I just… thought it’d be different.”
Jake looks a little taken aback by her sudden outburst, opening his mouth before closing it and watching her with that same worried look she’s seen way too much during the last weeks.
“It will be,” he promises once she stops talking. “You’ve done this before. You know it gets better. You get a baby out of it, which - there are worse deals.”
“Yeah. But it feels so far away. It doesn’t feel remotely real. I wanted us to be happy now, to relax and enjoy this, but it feels like everything sucks.”
“Isn’t that just life sometimes, though? It sucks, and then there are awesome parts, and then it sucks again, and then there’s more awesome stuff.” He grimaces, looking down at the curb before meeting her eyes. “I know you feel like crap. I know you’re scared. Honestly, so am I. But we’re about to see our baby for the first time,” he smiles, “and that’s at least one of the crazy awesome parts.”
She nods. “It is.”
“Yeah.” He reaches for her hand, squeezing it. “I just think that… there’s always going to be shitty things, right? Sure, this year was rough, and I wouldn’t want to do it again, but we also had a million amazing moments with Leah, and together, in-between the bad parts. When this baby comes,” he nods to her still-flat stomach, “we probably won’t be sleeping and everything will be nuts for a while before we figure it out, but we’re going to have two kids and it’s going to be the best.”
“I know.”
“I’m going to tell you something I heard from a very smart person once,” he grins, looking proud of himself. “Life is unpredictable, but as long as you’re with the right people, you can handle anything.”
“That person sounds smart. Did they also make a butt joke after that?”
“Sure did. Made me cry, and everything. But what I was actually trying to say was…” Jake blushes, and she can tell there’s a moment of emotional sincerity coming. “I’m with you. I know that. I also know that as long as I’m with you, all the bad stuff is survivable, and all the good stuff is a million times better. And I’d rather have hard days with you, and Lee, and I guess soon whoever this is,” he holds his hand to her stomach through her sweater, “than good days with anyone else.”
“Me too,” she snivels, having to wipe the tears on her shirt sleeve because of course, this is making her cry. “How’d you get so wise all of a sudden?”
“Married you,” he shrugs. “And had kids. Also, I got hella old.”
“You’re forty-two.”
“Exactly. Shh.”
Amy laughs, with tears in her eyes because he’s hitting that perfect spot between wisdom and humor that’s one of the many reasons she loves him so much, and the smile on his lips grows wider once he sees that he’s made her laugh.
“I love you so much,” she whispers, cupping his face with her hands.
“I know. Love you, too.” She kisses him, and he kisses her back for a second before immediately pulling away and scrunching his nose. “Okay, ew, no. Vomity breath. Gross.”
“I thought I wasn’t supposed to apologize,” she teases. “But I’ll take that gum too.”
“Let’s just go inside and look at our baby,” he says as he hands her the packet, and she doesn’t protest.
There are some routine questions and another blood test, and then they’re ushered into the ultrasound room. She’s nearly holding her breath as she lays down, eyes glued to the screen and Jake’s hand squeezing hers so tight she thinks he might stop the blood flow if he squeezed any harder.
At first, she’s scared she was right and there’s nothing in there, because everything is blurry and she’s not sure what’s what, but then it clears slightly and the ultrasound technician points out a white blob the shape of a lima bean, and there are tears of relief running down her cheeks.
The technician says and here’s the heartbeat, and Amy has to clasp a hand over her mouth to keep from crying harder than she already is when a whoosh-whoosh-whoosh-whoosh-whoosh sounds through the room in quick little beats.
She could listen to that sound forever.
They get printed sonogram pictures of their fetus, which is slightly over an inch and just looks like a white blob but is well and truly perfect according to their doctor, and then they’re advised to go home and celebrate. They both have to stop crying first, though, so they stand outside the clinic for another while, just hugging without needing to say anything else.
“So,” Jake says when Amy’s finally found space to breathe again. “How do you want to celebrate?”
“Do you want to go to Target and look for another shirt that says Big Sister and some stupid cute tiny clothes?”
“Oh, you know I do.”
They get a long-sleeved pink shirt for Leah, six pairs of baby socks with animals on them and tiny pajamas with rainbow stripes, and then they buy alcohol-free champagne.
~
#my writing#b99#brooklyn 99#brooklyn nine-nine#peraltiago#jake x amy#b99 fic#brooklyn 99 fic#brooklyn nine-nine fic#b99 fanfiction#brooklyn nine-nine fanfiction#jake x amy fic#jake x amy fanfiction#peraltiago fic#peraltiago fanfiction#iwthwy
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Day 7 - Growing Old Together/Future
Nora was huge.
Blake could see Yang’s look of mild alarm, and squeezed her hand. But even her size couldn’t stop Nora. She took one look at them, squealed excitedly, and bustled over, and Blake had the vague impression that she and Yang were only pins to this red-headed bowling ball.
“It’s been so long!” Nora exclaimed, throwing her arms around both of them at once, her belly sliding between them as if the gap had been made for it. “I never see you anymore!”
“It is harder now that you haven’t been able to go on missions,” Blake replied, shooting Yang a smile. “We’ve been keeping up with your pictures, though.”
Nora laughed. “Well, I haven’t had much else to do other than take pictures. I’m thinking I should just quit huntressing altogether and just become a food photographer or something.”
As she talked, her hand moved to her stomach, settling there with idle protectiveness. New habits popped up with pregnancy, and that slight movement was familiar enough to Nora to be one of them. Yang’s eyes lingered on her hand just a bit too long, the gaze soft, and her hand twitched, though only Blake noticed that subtle shift. Before anyone else could, she snapped her attention back to Nora’s face with a relaxed smile.
“I somehow doubt that. You’re not good at sitting still.”
“And the pregnancy definitely hasn’t changed that,” Ren said with a sigh, coming up to them. “Good to see you.”
“Congratulations, dad,” Yang said, lightly punching his arm. “Thanks for inviting us.”
“Well, technically, it was Weiss who did that,” he corrected, gesturing with his head to where Weiss stood amid a gaggle of their friends. “She organized this whole thing.”
“She would,” Yang replied, amused. The formality of the invitations alone had led them to thinking that Weiss had played some role in the baby shower; the foil font, the embossing, all screamed Weiss. If it had been Nora’s doing, Blake figured there probably would have been more colors and more confetti. “She’s always loved anything that had to do with babies.”
“Ugh, well, once he’s born, she’s welcome to him. I’ve had enough of the heartburn.” Nora made a face, then leaned in. “And my tits feel like they’re gonna explode.”
Unexpectedly, Blake laughed, and though Yang smiled drolly, she didn’t join in. Again, Blake squeezed her hand.
“Well, I gotta make the rounds. We’ll catch up in a bit, okay?” Nora grinned at them, gave them one more belly-bumping hug, and marched off, a pronounced waddle in her step.
“Rounds,” Yang snorted, watching Nora go straight to the snacks. “Well, some things don’t change.”
“She woke me up in the middle of the night last week to make her a fruit salad,” Ren replied with a sigh. “And then she cried because there were blueberries in it.”
At this, Yang did laugh. “Other than that, everything’s going well?” Blake asked.
“The doctor says it’s a textbook pregnancy,” he replied, and a small smile curled on his lips. “But we’re both ready for him to come out. Nora’s just about had enough with being pregnant.”
“I could see that,” Blake murmured.
“So, you’re ready?” Yang repeated, almost skeptical. “I didn’t know that was a thing.”
“Probably not.” Ren laughed. “I don’t think we could ever be as ready as we’d want to be. But the love’s ready, and that’s the most important part. We’ll figure the rest out as we go.”
“You make it sound easy.” Blake’s words were light, but a touch dry. Yang, sensitive to her tones, looked up at her with a raised eyebrow.
“Well, it can’t be any harder than taking down an evil, immortal queen.” Ren chuckled at his own joke. “It hasn’t been easy, and it’s only going to get harder once the baby’s here, but it’s not really different than fighting on a team. We’ll work together and we’ll flourish, just like we’ve always done.”
Ren’s words were so calm, so confident, that Blake couldn’t help but feel a little more at ease. He’d always been the sensible one, and he wouldn’t say something he didn’t mean. It was steadying, in a way, even though he didn’t know it.
“Oh, we brought this.” Blake held up the gift bag, decorated with pastel animals. “Where should we put it?”
“Oh, thank you. Weiss has a table set up for gifts, but I can take it there. I need to greet a few more people, anyway.” He smiled again as he took the bag. “I’m so glad you could come.”
“We wouldn’t miss it for the world!” Yang gave him one more light punch on the arm. “Dad.”
After he set off down the hall, Blake and Yang moved across the living room, hand in hand. Most of the people here were ones they recognized; Ruby, Weiss, Jaune and his date, Oscar, and, outside by the pool, the entirety of Team CFVY. Other huntsmen, too, more acquaintances than friends to Blake and Yang, milled around, making smalltalk. For not having any blood family, Nora and Ren had filled their house with family of their own making.
“I hope Weiss isn’t going to make us do any of those stupid baby shower games,” Blake commented as she dug around in a tub of drinks and ice. She grabbed a cider for herself. “Want anything to drink?”
“Just a water. Thanks, babe.” She took it, though she didn’t uncap it yet. She scanned the crowd, looking for other people she recognized. “Oh, hey, Saph! Gods, Adrian, how old are you now?”
Blake sat back, letting Yang take the reins on the conversations. Even now, Yang could carry on like nothing was different. She still spoke just as naturally with others, still laughed in the same way. Really, it had only when she’d spoken to Nora that Blake had seen some of her anxiety poke through. While they had talked, Yang had lifted a hand inward, making as if to touch her own stomach in the comfortable way Nora had done. Just as quickly, Yang’s hand had settled back by her side, nothing different.
As Yang talked, Blake put together a small plate of crackers, deli meats, and the blander cheeses. Anything smellier than cheddar was bound to make Yang’s stomach roil, and they wouldn’t risk that at the party. Blake gave a regretful look to the wedge of Roquefort cheese before making her way back to Yang.
“Hungry?” she asked Yang, holding up the plate.
“You know it!” With a final nod to the Cotta-Arcs, they wove their way through the other guests, making their way outside. “God, I’m hungry.”
“And we just ate lunch.”
“So?” Yang plopped herself onto a chair by the patio table, giving a brief wave to Coco and the others before zeroing in on her food. “Well, at least I’ve got a reason for it. Ruby has no excuse. Did you see her shoving that whole cupcake in her mouth? She’s gonna choke.”
Blake took the chair beside her, content to watch as Yang piled cheese and pepperoni on one of the crackers. She was one to talk about choking, she thought, amused, as Yang popped the whole thing in her mouth.
“So? Is it weird for you?” Yang asked when she’d finished chewing. Already, she was making up another cracker.
“For?”
Yang looked over her shoulder at Team CFVY and lowered her voice. “You sounded a little nervous when we were talking to Ren.”
“Oh.” Blake shrugged. “Well… I don’t know. You know how I am.”
Smiling, Yang nodded and bit into her cracker. She chewed it thoughtfully, then swallowed. “It’s all right to be nervous. Hell, seeing Nora like that makes me nervous. Am I gonna be that big?”
“You could be twice that size and still be beautiful,” Blake teased, propping her elbow on the table and resting her chin in her hand. “Seriously.”
“You have to say that ‘cause we’re married.” Yang laughed. “But, still. It looks uncomfortable, and she’s still got another month. I can’t even imagine--”
“You were the one who wanted to carry,” Blake pointed out.
“I know, I know. I’m just teasing. I’m not changing my mind or anything.”
“Good, since you can’t.”
With a wicked grin, Yang placed a daring palm against her abdomen, finally giving in to that tempting touch. Her back was to Team CFVY, so nobody else was there to question her. Still, Blake looked around worriedly. Someone else’s baby shower would be a bad time to announce their own pregnancy, and it was still early enough that they didn’t want to publicize the news yet.
“So?” Yang asked softly. “In a few months, we’ll be having a baby shower of our own.”
“And Weiss will be begging to emboss the invitations.”
At this, Yang laughed, loud enough to draw the attention of Team CFVY. Fortunately, she’d taken her hand off her stomach, and when Coco looked at them over her shades, there was only amusement, not suspicion.
“Something funny, Xiao Long?” Coco called.
“Oh, we’re just laughing at Weiss’s expense again.” Yang waved her hand dismissively. Coco rolled her eyes and pushed her sunglasses back up.
“Just like every other day.”
Yang snorted at this, then turned back to her food. Blake nabbed a cracker and nibbled on it. They ate in silence for a few minutes, the music and the chatter of the party inside comfortably dull. She knew they’d have to go in at some point, to face Ruby and Weiss and deal with whatever party games they were forced to play, but for now, they could enjoy the peace and sunshine. For just these few minutes, it was only them.
“Yang?”
“Yeah?”
“Do you think we’re ready?”
Yang’s brows quirked at the question as she swallowed her last bite of crackers. “Well,” she said slowly, “I don’t think we would’ve gone through it if we weren’t.”
Despite her anxiety, Blake smiled. “Oh, I know. It’s just… Seeing them, in there… it’s different. Like... it wasn’t real before. But seeing them… I’m starting to see it now.”
“I know what you mean.” Yang’s smile was gentle. “It’s easy to envision it one way, but seeing it in person really makes you nervous about it. I mean, when Nora said that thing about her boobs--”
Blake laughed, which Yang had seemed to be going for. Her smile brightened. “But like Ren was saying… we’re a team. And as a team, we can handle whatever life throws at us. Even if our baby acts like a little Ursa sometimes, it’s something I know we can manage. Even on our hardest days, there’ll always be love. That’ll get us through.”
“Yeah.” Blake’s mouth had gone dry, but she leaned in anyway, brushing a kiss against Yang’s lips. “There’ll always be love.”
With a quick glance at CFVY, Blake slipped a hand onto Yang’s stomach. For now, her abs were still tight and sculpted. There was no sign of life underneath them, though she knew that would change. They’d listened to the heartbeat at their first appointment, that strange new sound that would soon bring a different kind of purpose to their lives.
For the brief time they’d been able to hear it, Blake could almost see the future. With the sound of that heartbeat in her ears, she could envision Yang months from now, sweaty and exhausted, bringing their child into the world. She could imagine holding this child-- their child-- in their arms, rocking them to sleep, reading them books, watching them grow...
But for now, Yang’s stomach kept the truth hidden. For now, their baby was little more than a new thought. For now, it was a secret for them alone.
“We should probably go in,” Blake finally said, dragging her hand away from that growing life. “Be good guests, or whatever.”
“So overrated,” Yang said, with a sigh, pushing her chair back. “At least we can take notes of what we don’t want Weiss to do, right?”
“Right.” Blake laughed. Yang gave her another kiss, then led her back into the house, and they readied themselves against the excitement and bubbly happiness that the baby shower would bring. Soon, that same happiness would be theirs. Still holding her hand, Yang looked back at her, her smile open and bright.
Scratch that.
It already was.
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Lily of the Valley - Part 8
Joe Mazzello! x Reader!
Summary: Being a young, single mom that worked full-time was hard. When you weren’t working, you were taking care of your five year old daughter, Lily. You had given up on dating after many failed attempts. That was until after a rough day of dealing with your ex boyfriend, your best friend introduced you to Joe.
Word count: 4113
Warnings: fluff for the most part, some cussing, mentions of alcohol/being drunk
A/N: wowow this part was longer than I anticipated but it’s reallyyyy good if I say so myself. ENJOY! Leave me some feedback if you liked it! Reblog/comment/like/send me an ask or DM. Anything!
Two months had passed and it was now in the middle of the holiday season. Joe flew back home to New York for two weeks to spend Thanksgiving with his family, and it was now the beginning of December and he was finally flying home. You took the day off from work because you were picking him up from the airport after dropping Lily off at school.
“Guess who’s coming home today,” you said during breakfast, taking a sip of coffee while Lily ate her cereal.
“Joey!” she squealed with delight, “I missed him!”
“Me, too,” you smiled, knowing in just a few short hours, you were going to be wrapped up in his arms after two long weeks. It was probably the longest you two had been apart since you started dating.
“Am I gonna see him when I get home from school?” she asked, taking one last bite of cereal and pushing her bowl away.
“Possibly,” you said, getting up from the table, picking up her bowl and walking it over to the sink, “maybe he’ll be with me when I pick you up and you can invite him to your Christmas concert next week!”
“Oh, I hope so!” she sighed, getting up from the table and putting her shoes on.
“Come on,” you said, “go brush your teeth, we can’t be late today.”
“I know, I know,” she said, walking to the bathroom to brush her teeth. A few minutes later, she finished and walked back into the kitchen. You grabbed her bookbag and your purse and headed out to the car.
---
“Have a good day!” you said as she climbed out of the car when you arrived at her school, “I’ll see you later. I love you!”
“Love you, too!” she smiled, waving back at you, “tell Joey I missed him!”
“Oh, I will,” you laughed. She shut the door and made her way into the school, and you drove off and headed to LAX.
Once you arrived at the airport, you parked and headed inside and to the gate where Joe told you his plane would be arriving. The waiting area wasn’t too crowded, just a few other people waiting for the same flight you were. A few minutes went by, and you could see on the monitor that the plane had landed. Your stomach was full of butterflies, anticipating seeing Joe again and being able to hug and kiss him. People started piling in, coming from the plane, and you waited, searching for Joe. Until, you finally caught a glimpse of him, sporting a Yankee’s baseball hat, pulling his carry-on behind him and holding his backpack on his shoulder. He caught a glimpse of you, smile beaming off of your face. He returned the smile and started walking faster, and you practically started running towards him. He dropped his suitcase and backpack, and you ran and jumped into his open arms, peppering his face in kisses.
“Hello, my love,” he chuckled, reciprocating the kisses and holding you close to him.
“I missed you so much,” you said, giving him another kiss then letting go, grabbing one of his bags, “so, so much.”
“I missed you, too,” he said, “babe, I got my stuff.”
“Is this all you have? Just these two?” you asked, putting the backpack on your shoulder, with your purse on the other.
“That’s it,” he said, grabbing the suitcase in one hand and your free hand in the other, “let’s go.”
You two walked hand in hand throughout the airport, and headed out to your car. You put his bag in the backseat and he followed suit, putting the other luggage bag in the back seat and then the two of you got in the car and left.
“You hungry? We can go get breakfast at Dupar’s,” you said, reaching over to hold his hand.
“Breakfast sounds amazing,” he commented, rubbing the back of your hand with his thumb.
---
You arrived at Dupar’s and got seated in a booth in a corner of the restaurant. The waitress brought you your drinks and gave the two of you a minute to look over the menu.
“How was New York?” you asked, fiddling with the straw in your glass of water.
“It was good,” he nodded, taking a sip of his, “got to see my family. I missed you, though; and I missed Lily.”
“We missed you, too,” you smiled. The waitress came back over and you two ordered your food; french toast for you and pancakes for Joe.
“Maybe you can come with me next year,” he said, reaching across the table for your hand.
“Next year?” you questioned, raising an eyebrow, “you see that?”
“Of course,” he shrugged, “you sound shocked by that.”
“Well, everyone usually leaves by this point,” you commented, laughing slightly.
“Well, not me,” he smiled reassuringly, “can’t lose my girl.”
You smiled over at him as you felt your cheeks start to turn hot, “I really, really like you.”
“I love you,” he whispered adoringly, placing a hand to your red hot cheek. The statement took you back a bit, not that you weren’t expecting it, but not at this exact moment. Of course, you loved Joe. You just didn’t want to be the first one to say it, in case he didn’t reciprocate your own feelings. The way he was with you, how he was with Lily; you’ve never felt more cared for in your life. How could you not love him?
“I love you, too,” you whispered back, placing your hand on top of his as your eyes welled up with tears.
“I didn’t think we’d be at Dupar’s the first time I said it, but here we are,” he chuckled, taking your hand and kissing the top of it.
“I wouldn’t want it any other way,” you laughed. The waitress brought your food over and the two of you began eating, Joe practically shoveling the food into his mouth. When the two of you finished eating, and you paid, even though Joe practically refused that you do, you left and headed to his house.
---
You pulled up to his house and helped with carrying his bags inside, putting them on the floor in his room.
“Here,” he said, reaching into one of the bags and handing you a smaller one, “I got you something from New York.”
“You didn’t have to do that,” you smiled, opening the bag and revealing an Aaron Judge jersey.
“I just figured one day,” he started, stepping towards you and wrapping his arms around your waist, “I can take you to a game, and you can wear it.”
“Of course,” you smiled, pressing a kiss to his lips, “as long as they’re not playing the Dodgers.”
“Deal,” he chuckled, trying his best to stifle a yawn, but failing.
“Take a nap, baby,” you said, “you’re probably really jet lagged from the three hour time change.”
“I might,” he yawned again, “but, I have to unpack.”
“I’ll do it, just go lay down,” you said, patting his chest. He turned around and walked over to the bed and laid down.
“Don’t unpack,” he yawned, holding his arms out, “come snuggle.”
“Well, I can’t pass that up,” you smiled, walking over to the bed and climbing in next to him. He wrapped his arms around you, resting your head on your boobs and shutting his eyes.
“Best pillow ever,” he mumbled, yawning again. You laughed and started running your fingers through his hair.
“Just go to sleep,” you said, kissing the top of his head, “I’ll be right here when you wake up.”
“Mmkay,” he mumbled, “I love you.”
“I love you,” you said, toying with his hair some more, until you could hear a faint snore filling the room.
---
Hours went by, and Joe was sleeping peacefully on the bed. By now, he had rolled out of your arms, facing the other way. You got up and put all his clothes away while he was asleep, and now you were just waiting on him to wake up. You got back in the bed, just as Joe rolled back over, facing you, and slowly opened his eyes.
“Good morning, sleepy head,” you whispered, pushing his hair back and kissing him lightly.
“Mmm, morning,” he groaned, stretching and pulling you closer to him.
“How was your nap? You slept all day, practically,” you said, pressing a kiss to his forehead, lightly scratching up and down his back.
“I feel great, now,” he said, taking your hand and fiddling with your fingers, “what time is it?”
“Almost time to go get Lily from school,” you laughed, sitting up.
“Damn, I didn’t think I slept that long,” he chuckled, sitting up and getting up off the bed.
“Tired little baby,” you said, getting off the bed and wrapping your arms around his neck, nuzzling your nose against his.
“Well, I had the best pillow,” he smiled, pecking your lips.
“C’mon,” you said, resting a hand on his chest, “we gotta go. Can’t keep your best friend waiting.”
---
“Oh my god, her book bag is almost as big as her,” Joe laughed, looking at Lily in the carpool line, chatting with a few of her friends.
“Right?” you laughed, pulling up in the line, so Lily could get in. She took a glimpse of your car, and her little green eyes nearly popped out. She sprinted to the car, and the teacher helping with carpool opened the back door for her, and she climbed in.
“JOEY!” she squealed, nearly jumping over the center console to hug him.
“Hi, Lils!” he smiled, returning the hug as best as he could.
“I missed you,” she giggled, letting go and getting in her seat and buckling in.
“I missed you, too!” he smiled.
“How was school?” you asked, looking at her in the rearview mirror.
“It was fun,” she commented, “we practiced our songs today.”
“Songs?” Joe questioned, looking over at you.
“Yeah,” you nodded, then looked back at Lily, “hey, Lils. Isn’t there something you want to ask Joey?”
“Oh yeah!” she said, “Joey, next week is my Christmas concert at my school!”
“Really? That sounds fun!” he said.
“Yeah, and my mommy and Aunt Casey and Aunt Jana and Uncle David and Aunt Kristen and Uncle Oscar and my daddy and Uncle Andrew are gonna be there, and I reaaaaally want you to be there, too. Can you come?” she asked, eyeing the back of Joe’s seat as you made your way to your apartment.
“Well, I haven’t talked to your daddy, so I don’t know if him and Andrew will be there,” you stated, nearly gagging at the thought of them.
“Of course they’re gonna be there, mommy!” she exclaimed, “they have to be!”
“Okay,” you sighed. Joe could sense you were growing tense, so he placed a hand on your thigh reassuringly.
“So, Joey! Are you gonna come?” Lily asked again as you parked. She unbuckled and leaned forward, closer to Joe.
“I wouldn’t miss it for the world,” he turned to her and smiled, “I’ll be there!”
“YAAAAY!” she squealed, throwing her arms around his neck, hugging him tightly, “I’m so happy!”
The three of you made your way to your apartment, and Lily dropped her book bag by the door and headed off into her room.
“Christmas concert, huh?” Joe asked, wrapping an arm around you.
“Yeah,” you sighed, “I doubt her dad will be there. She didn’t see him on Thanksgiving, he called and talked to her for five minutes, and was definitely on something, and Andrew just tags along wherever he goes, like some kind of lost puppy.”
“If they show up, they show up,” he shrugged, “I’ll be there. You’ve got nothing to worry about.”
“Every time I even think of him, I want to vomit,” you sighed, closing your eyes and laying your head against his chest, “thank you.”
“Don’t mention it,” he said, kissing the top of your head and rubbing your back.
---
A week went by and it was now the day of Lily’s concert at school. You still had not heard a word from Chad about whether he was coming or not, even though Lily kept insisting that he was.
“Well, we’re going to be there, and that’s all that matters,” Jana said at work that day, “David and I will be there with bells on.”
“Thanks,” you smiled slightly. The rest of the work day was filled with the same thing as always: filling out reports, checking on patients, reviewing doctor’s notes, bloodwork results, sending off other labs, and everything in between. The end of the day finally rolled around, and you let out a sigh of relief as you entered your last report.
“So, I guess I’ll see you guys tonight,” you said, getting up from the desk and grabbing your purse.
“Absolutely,” Jana smiled, “I can’t wait.”
You headed down the elevator and out to your car, then headed to school to pick up Lily. Once you got there, she hopped in the backseat, full of energy.
“I’m so excited!” she squealed with delight, clasping her hands together.
“Me, too,” you smiled, pulling out of the parking lot and heading to your apartment, “so are Aunt Jana and Aunt Kristen!”
“Aaaaand Joey?” she asked, cocking her head to the side.
“Yes, and Joey,” you laughed, “everyone’s excited!”
“My daddy and Uncle Andrew, too?” she asked again.
“I don’t know, I haven’t talked to your daddy,” you sighed, pulling into the complex and parking, “I’m sure he is.”
You headed up into the apartment, dropping your items by the door as usual, while Lily ran off to her room, and you to yours. You changed out of your scrubs and into a pair of sweatpants and the shirt Joe got you from New York, and went back out into the living room and sat on the couch. There was about an hour or two left to spare before you and Lily had to get ready, so you curled up on the couch and watched TV until then.
---
The hours passed, and you were in the middle of fixing Lily’s hair when Joe called you.
“Hello?” you smiled, picking up the phone as you sprayed the last bit of hairspray into Lily’s hair.
“Hey, baby,” Joe said on the other end, “what are you up to?”
“Just fixing Lily’s hair,” you said, inspecting your work. You had used the curling iron on her hair, just to define her natural curls a little more than usual, and pinned half of it up, while the other half flowed down her shoulders.
“Speaking of tonight, what do you think I should wear?” he asked. You couldn’t help but let out a small laugh.
“Whatever you’re comfortable with,” you answered, “David and Oscar are most likely wearing jeans, so just wear that or something.”
“Have you heard from Chad?” He asked. You sighed deeply, then went to Lily’s room with her to get her dressed.
“Nope,” you said, “so, who knows how tonight will go. He could just show up unannounced.”
“If he does, I’ll be right there with you,” he stated, making you smile.
“Thank you,” you said, “okay, let me finish getting her ready, so I can get ready, and then we’ll be on our way to pick you up.”
“Sounds good,” he said, “I love you.”
“I love you, too,” you smiled before hanging up the phone.
“Who was that?” Lily asked, sitting on her bed.
“Joey,” you answered, getting her red and black plaid dress out of her closet, along with a pair of black Mary Janes.
“You love Joey?” She gasped, stepping into the dress.
“Of course,” you smiled, helping her with her dress and shoes.
“Ooooh, does he love you?” she cooed, giggling. You laughed and shook your head at her.
“Yes, he does,” you laughed, shaking your head at her curiosity.
You finished getting her ready, then headed back to your room to start getting ready yourself. You fixed your hair, then did your makeup, and headed to your closet to find something to wear, deciding to wear a black denim skirt, a white off the shoulder shirt, and some black heels. When you finished getting ready, you and Lily headed out to the car to go get Joe.
—-
“Wow, look at you!” Joe said, getting in your car and turning to face Lily, “you look so pretty.”
“Thank you,” she giggled in response.
“And you look beautiful as always,” he said, leaning over the center console and kissing you.
“You look handsome,” you smiled, taking his hand in yours. He was wearing a button up shirt and some jeans. “Thank you for coming.”
“Oh, I wouldn’t miss it,” he said as you headed to the school, “gotta come watch my best friend.”
“I’m sooo happy you’re coming, Joey!” Lily squealed from the backseat.
“I’m so happy that you invited me,” Joe chuckled, “so, how are you going to sing tonight? Like a robot?”
“Whaaaat? No, that’s silly!” she giggled.
“Lily, are you going to sing like this?” he said again, this time in his best robot-like voice.
“Noooo!” she giggled more, covering her mouth with her hands, “I’m gonna sing good!”
“Yes, you are,” you laughed, pulling into the school parking lot and parking. You got there a little early, so only a few other parents and kids and the teachers were there. You parked the car and the three of you went inside and headed to room where the concert was being held.
“Wait, let me get a picture of you, Lils,” you said before she ran off with her friends. You took your phone out, and snapped a quick picture of her, then she was off to play with her friends for the time being. A few minutes later, Jana and David arrived first, and headed over to where you and Joe were.
“Hey, guys,” you smiled, giving each of them a hug.
“Where is she?” Jana asked, and you pointed in the direction of where she was.
“Lily! Come here,” you called to her. She turned around and came running over, giving Jana’s leg a big hug.
“Hi, Aunt Jana!” she said, hugging tighter, then let go and hugged David’s leg, “hi, Uncle David!”
“Hi, cutie,” David laughed, reciprocating the hug.
“Hey,” you said to Jana, handing her your phone, “can you take a picture of us three?”
“Of course,” she said, taking the phone from you. You picked Lily up, then wrapped an arm around Joe and smiled, posing for the picture. Jana snapped it, then handed the phone back to you.
“Aww, look at us,” you said to Joe, showing him the picture.
“Beautiful,” he smiled, kissing the top of your head. You set Lily back down and she went back to playing with her friends.
“Have you talked to Chad?” Jana asked, and you shook your head.
“Nope,” you said, popping the ‘P’, “he knows about it, so if he shows, he shows.”
Kristen and Oscar arrived next, and the six of you were all standing around talking before the concert began; Lily had gone off with her teacher and classmates to get ready. You were facing in the direction of the entrance, when low and behold, in walks Chad, with Andrew right behind him.
“Oh, god,” you said, grabbing Joe’s hand for comfort, taking a deep breath.
“Wow, he actually showed,” Kristen scoffed, “I’m shocked.”
“That makes two of us,” Oscar said. Chad and Andrew looked around, then saw your group and headed over.
“Hey,” Chad said, approaching you. You held Joe’s hand tighter, and he began to rub the back of your hand with his thumb, like he always does.
“Hey,” you said, looking between him and Jana, who kept eyeing him.
“Where is she?” he asked, sticking his hands in his pockets.
“Getting ready,” you answered, then turned to Joe, “this is Chad. Chad, this is my boyfriend, Joe.”
“Hey, I’m Joe,” he said, sticking his hand out to shake it. Chad stuck his hand in Joe’s and shook it.
“(Y/N),” Andrew said, glancing over at you.
“Andrew,” you said, not even looking over at him.
“Boyfriend, huh?” Chad scoffed, giving Joe a lookover, “didn’t think you could do better than me, in my opinion.”
“Oh, shut the FUCK up,” Jana snapped, “we are not going there right now.”
“This doesn’t concern you,” Chad said, turning his attention to her.
“Well, it certainly doesn’t concern you,” she said.
“Guys, stop. Please,” you sighed, “this isn’t the time or place.”
“Whatever,” Chad huffed, turning away from her. You looked over at Joe, who looked at you with concern in his eyes. All you could do was smile slightly, and he gave your hand a little squeeze.
The next couple of minutes dragged on painfully slow. Chad kept glancing at you and Joe, and you tried your best to not make the situation any more tense than it already was by refraining from calling him out on it. Casey came in a few minutes after everything happened, and came and stood by you and Joe.
“Did Chad show up?” she asked, and you raised an eyebrow at her.
“He’s right there,” you said, nodding your head in his direction.
“Oh. Wow,” she said surprisingly, then leaned in closer to you, “he looks rough.”
It was true, he did look pretty bad off. His brown, curly hair looked like it had not been washed or cut in years, and his stubble looked like it had not been shaved in a couple of weeks.
After an excruciating amount of time, the concert finally began. The first song they sang was Jingle Bells, and during the performance, each one was given a bell to ring while singing. Lily was in the front row, singing her little heart out. The group sang a variety of Christmas songs, from Santa Claus Is Coming to Town, to Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer, and ending with the big finale of We Wish You A Merry Christmas.
“MERRY CHRISTMAS, EVERYONE!” the group yelled, Lily practically being the loudest. When the concert was over, all the kids ran off to their families.
“DADDY!” Lily squealed, running over to Chad. He smiled and picked her up, hugging her tightly.
“Hi, my angel!” he said, giving her a kiss on the cheek.
“His angel, yet he hasn’t seen her in...how long?” Jana turned to you and asked.
“I know,” you sighed, looking back over at them.
“Daddy, did you meet my Joey?” she asked, looking over at you and Joe. Chad looked in your direction again, eyeing Joe once more.
“Yeah,” he said, putting her down, “we met.”
“You did so good!” you said, quickly changing the topic and hugging Lily, giving her a big kiss, “I’m so proud of you!”
“Thank you,” she giggled, her face turning red.
“Okay, we’re gonna go,” Chad stated, motioning to him and Andrew.
“She hasn’t seen you in weeks,” you said, making sure Lily couldn’t hear, “it wouldn’t kill you to spend some time with her.”
“Another time,” he said, walking closer to you, close enough to where you could finally smell the alcohol on him.
“Jesus Christ,” you sighed, taking a step back, “are you fucking kidding me?”
“So, does that answer your question?” he asked, “I can’t tonight.”
“Whatever. Fine,” you sighed.
“Okay, I’m leaving, Lils,” he said, giving her another hug, “I’ll see you soon, okay?”
“Okay,” she said, with a kind of sad look in her eyes. Chad and Andrew told everyone bye, not like they cared that they were leaving, and finally left. The second you couldn’t see the back of his shirt anymore, you let out a sigh of relief.
“Now that that’s over,” you said, laying your head on Joe’s arm, “let’s go home.”
---
You and Joe got back to your place, and put Lily in bed, where she quickly fell asleep after a long and exhausting day.
“He’s...interesting,” Joe stated as the two of you sat on your couch.
“He was drunk,” you said, looking at Joe.
“You really put up with him for that long?” he asked, looking down at you.
“Mhmm,” you nodded, “tried to.”
“Don’t you know you’re worth so much more than that?” he asked quietly, pressing a kiss to your forehead.
“I do now,” you smiled, “because of you.”
“I love you, my muffin,” he said, “I don’t ever want you to feel the way you did with him ever again.”
“I don’t think I have to worry about that with you, cupcake.”
Tags: @hargreevesgrace @deakyspuff @okiegirl24 @joalsglasses @toger-raylor @panicatttckiss @cheeseedreams47 @shesakillerquueennn @cruelnatalie @mrsmazzello @rogerina-owns-me @johnricharddeaconn @jiswoogannon @loveofmychips @v-o-o-d-o-o-c-h-i-l-d @littleliv1 @walkingwheels @cryinq-mazzello @ramibaby @queeniesteiins @inthelapofthe39 @caborhapch
#joe mazzello#joe mazzello fanfic#joe mazzelo x reader#joe mazzello imagine#bohemian rhapsody#bohemian rhapsody movie#borhap#fanfic#bentaylorrogerhardy
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Chapter 1
AN: Okay I'm so sorry for the long wait I've been dealing with some shit, but I'm here to deliver. Also sorry for the long chapter I got a bit carried away. Please comment, love, reblog the whole shebang and don’t forget to give me some feedback. I really hope you enjoy. With all the love and kisses here is chapter one! Didn’t proofread either it’s getting late and i still have to pack for a trip tomorrow, so forgive my errors!
Disclaimer: I DON’T OWN ANYTHING ABOUT THE SHOW, JUST MY CHARACTERS DAISY, JACKIE, AND MADELINE. Also, I did use some dialogue form the show and also switched some up!
Words: 2,700+ (Sorry once again)
Icing. Icing. Icing. I need more icing. Damn it. Glancing up at the clock it read 4:37. I was supposed to be gone by 4, Monse was finally back from writing camp and we were supposed to go shopping tonight. But instead I'm here crumb coating a wedding cake.
“Jackie can you bring me the other tub?” Throwing the spatula down and wiping my hands on my yellow floral apron.
“Tub of?”
“TuB oF...” Rolling my eyes. “Tub of ICING Jackie, tub of icing. Preferably the royal please.” Huffing Jackie drops down into a squat on the other side of the kitchen and grabs a tub.
“Thank you!” Continuing the crumb coating I happen to doze off again and of course a special person comes to mind. Oscar. He’s back. They released him 4 months early, and of course the first thing he does is drag Cesar into the Santos. Which I guess is a good thing since that’ll keep him protected from the prophet$, and from me. Ever since I found out that he told everyone about him and Monse I've been out for his head. He knows to stay away from me and apparently Jamal and Ruby feel the same way. I’m worried about how Monse is going to handle everything when she finds out he blabbering.
“Okay, off you go to chill my little child.” I whisper carefully putting the cake into the fridge to set overnight. Glancing up at the clock it now reads 5:15. Walking over to the wall, closest to the entry way to the front of the bakery, I hang up my apron then start to clean up my mess.
Walking into the kitchen Jackie comes to help me with the dirty appliances and utensils. “So, I locked the front door, moped, counted the register, and took up what was left of the éclairs and macarons and put them into the purple box.”
“You are a life saver. Also, I'm sorry for being such a bitch earlier I'm...” Clenching my jaw and scrubbing a little harder at the poor bowl. “Just a little stressed right now.”
“I know...does it have anything to do with some of the Santos coming in and asking for you earlier?”
“Wait what?” Stopping and looking at her with wide eyes. “When did this happen?”
“Daisy...” Jackie said very slowly, as if she was talking to a child. “Wednesday they came in here and asked for you, I told you this remember?” Shaking my head, she continued. “Well they claimed they just wanted to check on you and when I asked for what they told me it was none of my business and then proceeded to sample, then buy might I add, some of my delicious Mississippi mud cupcakes!”
“Huh it must’ve slipped my mind.” As I finished drying out the rest of the bowls, I remembered what she said. “They bought some of your cupcakes? What the hell this is big news, most people try to avoid your cupcakes-ow that hurt!” I exclaimed rubbing my arm.
“People don’t avoid them they’re just cautious because they’ve never seen some that looked so exciting and enticing.” Hanging up her apron she grabbed our bags and my car keys. Grabbing them from her I lead us to the side door where I set the alarm and quickly rushed her out the door.
“You know many people think you spent your inheritance money to get this beauty.” Smiling I look at my new red 2018 Chevy cruze. Of course, I knew that people thought that, but only people that I wanted to know, knew the truth. I give Jackie rides to work every day since she lives on the route, I take every day. On the way home I decide to stop by Monse’s to see if she's home.
“If you’re looking for Monse you just missed her. She decided to walk to the orientation with the boys.” Dad said answering the door.
“Maybe I came to see you.” Judgmental eyes followed me as I walked into the house I grew up in. “Fine I came to see Monse...how are you? When did you get back?”
“I’m doing, I got back Monday. Figured I could be home for Monse on her first day of high school.” He responded walking past me into the kitchen, “Want something to drink?”
“No, I'm fine, I actually have to get going. I’m taking Monse out to dinner tonight.”
“Hey.”
“Yeah?”
“You know I love you, right?” Shocked I sharply turned my head towards him.
“I...I um should really get going.” I need to leave before he notices my bottom lip trembling.
“Okay I’ll call you before I leave again Daisy.”
Walking out the door I rush to the car and rush home to take a shower. He hasn’t told me that in years. Of course I love him, he’s my father but he hasn’t exactly been present in my life. The last time I saw him was for my 13th birthday right before I left to go live with mama. But I also don’t hold any kind of resentment towards him. Fresh out the shower I wrap a towel around my hair and body, and go on the hunt for my phone to call Monse.
“Finally, you decide to pick up. This is my second time calling you!”
“Sorry I’m kind of in a situation with the crew. Can we, I don’t know, rain check for dinner tonight?”
“No!” I say stomping my foot. “I’ve had this planned ever since you first left. I want to spend time with my little sister. Leave the boys to figure whatever was going on out by themselves.”
“Okay, okay fine. I’ll head home and get ready.” Sighing I reach for my tribal print top and black jeans.
“Be ready in 30 minutes, love you.”
“Love you too.”
Taking the towel off my head I turn to the mirror and gasp.
“Damn Daisy you need a trim.” Running my fingers through my hair I detangle it, then grab a little hair from the front, braid it and pin it around the side of my head, and proceeded to do the same to the other side. Next, I lather myself with lotion while my hair air dries, and then get ready. Twirling around in the mirror I admire myself, what a sight to behold.
“Keys, wallet, phone, coat.” I check as I walk out the door. “Lock the door you fool!” Laughing I turnaround and run back to the door.
“So how was camp?” I ask Monse handing my menu back to the waiter.
“It was mildly life changing.” Smiling she reaches for her water.
“I can see that.” Laughing as she blushes and looks away. “Monse you hit puberty there is nothing wrong with that. You’re just growing up...too fast.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Monse questioned me.
Turning my head and squinting my eyes I studied her. Her hair has grown just from the little bit of time she's been gone. Her braces are finally off, she’s more confident, outspoken.
“It means you’re unapologetically you, Monse. You’ve experienced things no 14 year old should. You’re brutally honest, have no filter, headstrong, determined, and much, much more. You only had dad growing up and I know how hard that was and is for you.” Reaching across the table she grabs my hand. “I wish I would’ve been there more for you. But I promise to you Monse, I will be here from now on. Anytime you need to call me or just need me, I'll be here.”
“I know.” Smiling she looked me in my eyes, “I love you too!” Dinner went on to be high-spirited and energetic. On the way back home, she decides to call Ruby and Jamal and from there all hell breaks loose.
“So, what exactly was the context when Cesar said Monse let him “hit it”?”
“He didn’t say he “hit it” he said he “smashed, really hard”.” Ruby replied. “But who cares about context.
“I care!” Glancing over at Monse I notice a vein about to pop on her forehead.
“Dude you can't keep one secret.”
“Dude she was blackmailing me, so I had to give!” Jamal whimpered.
“Why is he whispering?” A confused stare was thrown my way. “Ruby!” I clarified.
“Ruby, where are you?”
“Hell. Look I'm dealing with some b.s. of my own right now, so we will deal with this another time.”
“He hung up on me.” Monse gasped. “Well I guess I'll talk to you tomorrow then.” Getting out of the car she practically ran into the house. Last thing I noticed as I pulled off was dad’s truck was gone. So much for staying until her first day of high school, huh? As I pull into my driveway, I finally let my body relax and realized just how tired I truly was! My bed and a glass or 2 of wine was calling my name.
“You’re late!” Madeline yells as I come running through the door the next morning. I overslept by 30 minutes.
“I know I'm sorry, I forgot to set my alarm. I don’t usually work on Saturdays so it just caught me off guard.” Putting my things in the cubbies I put my hair up, wash my hands, and put on my apron. Walking over to the fridge I take the cake out and get back to work. Putting on the last layer of icing and putting it away to set in the fridge again.
“What do you want me to fix now?”
“Um at this point you can fix anything you want to fix Daisy. It’s Saturday, plus everyone loves your treats.” Side eyeing Jackie she giggles.
“I heard that!” Jackie laughs. “Just fix your famous, to-die-for crepe cake!” Nodding I walk away head for the pantry. I haven't fixed that in a few months. Butter, flour, milk, eggs, sugar, and food coloring. As I set the ingredients down, I notice a purple box sitting to the side. I forgot the sweets last night. Those were for the crew, groaning I snatch the box up and walk over to the cubbies and set it on top of my sweater. Okay now focus Daisy it’s time to get your crepe cake assembled. Ha assembled...avengers assemble.
3 O’clock. I dance around the kitchen putting things away and singing knowing that I was off the next few days.
“Before you go literally bouncing your butt out the door, I wanna ask you something?” Turning around still dancing I wave my hand in a way to tell her to ask away.
“Have you been dealing with the Santos again?” Freezing I look at Madeline to see that she's gone all serious on me.
“Do you honestly thing I'm that dumb?” She goes to answer. “Never mind don’t answer that, no I haven't. If you’re wondering about earlier this week, I don’t know why they came by here. My only guess is that Spooky sent them out to check up on me.” I answer honestly.
“I thought you haven't talked to him.”
“I haven't, I've been avoiding him like the plague. He’s always been like that. Years ago, when I was still here, he would send a few homies over to check on me, but that was when we were...you know.” Waving my hands around. “Trust me I plan to steer clear of him as long as I can!”
“I believe you, just wanted to know if you knew about them coming up in here.” Sighing she continues. “Alright get your stuff and go my angel, you’ve done enough today. Stay safe love you.” She kisses my cheek and quickly shoos me out the door. Walking to my car my phone bings with a message alert. Unlocking the car I put my belongings in the back seat and peel out of Southern Belle’s Bakery parking lot.
‘Meet us at Cesar's someone’s gonna die!!! -Jamal’
Racing to Cesar’s I manage to dodge a police officer, dog and a few pedestrians. The only thing I can think of is if the kids are safe. Coming to a skidding stop I jump out and run towards the commotion that’s going on in the front yard.
“I had your back, and for what? For you to impress your puto friends and humiliate me?” I hear and see Monse throwing punches, to who I can safely assume Is Cesar, as I push my way through the crowd.
“Hermanito you better back up before you get smacked up.” Oscar calmly says.
“Monse!” I shout causing most of the people around me stop and all look at me. “Stop!” As I'm pulling Monse off Cesar I see Ruby and Jamal making their way through and back up to let them get her.
“It’s not worth it Monse.” Ruby utters pulling her away as the Santos start to bark.
“Shut the hell up.” I say as I turn around to face Oscar. He slowly puts the cigarette out and walks up to me. Staring him in the eyes he takes one good look at me and smirks. HE. FUCKING. SMIRKS.
“Long time no see Daisy.”
“I tried to keep it that way, if only it would’ve been forever.” The homies laugh and now it’s my turn to smirk. He looks over his shoulder and gets quite once again.
“Don’t try that, you know how that end.” He whispers.
“Tell your boys to stay away from me and my friends and this will quickly end.” Shaking his head, he looks down. “Stay away from me Oscar, I want nothing to do with you!”
“You weren’t always saying that.” Laughs could be heard again. Stepping from in front of Spooky, I popped out my hip and crossed my arms. Ah quite. “I see you can still control my boys.”
Whipping around I turn to Spooky again. “That was then this is now! I mean it stay away.” Walking towards Monse I come to the realization that she’s been talking shit to Ruby and Jamal.
“Get in the car Monse, now!” Butting in her rant as I walk past her. As I’m about to step off the sidewalk I hear his voice.
“Still looking good as ever Sinclaire!” Giving him the finger, I get in the car and drive Monse home with the music turned all the way down. Looking over I see her playing with my tassel hanging from the rear view mirror.
“You know you’re going to regret telling them whatever you said back there, right?”
“I already do, I was just heated and they kept pissing me off. Do you think they’ll forgive me?” Monse sighed throwing herself pack into the seat.
“Of course they will. Y’all have been together since elementary school, you can get through anything. Just apologize and boom, magic, best friends all over again.” I tsked, “But Cesar, I really think you should take some time to contemplate about that one. That’s some serious shit he’s been talking about.”
“I know, thank you for not saying anything to dad.”
“Hey I told you, your secret is safe with me,” Unbuckling herself she reaches for the door handle. “Make sure to lock the doors and windows, I don’t want any creeps getting in!”
“Okay dad!” Laughing as she steps out of the car. “And um good luck with the whole Oscar situation.”
“What?” Looking at her with wide eyes as I hold my neck. Damn whiplash.
“I heard what he said and how he looked at you, just promise me you'll be safe.”
“Scouts honor!” I saluted, she saluted back then closed my door. I pull off once she's inside the house and slowly think about how my life had changed over the last 24 hours. I go from celebrating Monse’s welcome home, to messing up on the first crepe cake, but then having it be a success, getting off early, getting the news that I get a few days off for myself, getting a weird message which was a bit much, leave it to Jamal, to running into Oscar. Honestly can my day get any worse? I definitely need a hot bubble bath tonight. As I'm pulling to the driveway, too much deja vu lately, I can't help but to feel like I'm forgetting something. Pulling open the back door I almost slam it back shut out of pure anger.
“I forgot about the damn éclairs and macarons again!”
Tag: @izraahh1 @shesbriaanayy @aka-eb @mbaku-babygirl @yxseminx
#on my block#oscar diaz#spooky#omb#monse finnie#cesar diaz#jamal turner#ruby martinez#oscar diaz x oc#spooky x oc#spooky fanfic
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Chapter 7
He’s smoking on the porch in May whilst his mum and Dom bicker as they try to get the fire started inside the house. The smell of smoke is seeping through the open window from both sides, along with the sound of their harmless back-and-forth, but it doesn’t sound like they’re having much luck as Dom huffs, “it’s going out again.”
He’s staying with them tonight, not because he needs to (everything with Jules and Oscar is fine, the black eye long forgotten -- well, he never remembered it in the first place and even if Jules is lying about having no memory of it, the bruise has faded to yellow now and Curly’s not one to hold a grudge, so who gives a toss?) but because he’s made the executive decision to take tomorrow off from parties and deals, so had no plans for tonight.
That and he just... sort of really missed his mum, to be quite honest.
She doesn’t like that he smokes (he doesn’t tell her that he’s been doing it since before he left school, but he reckons he’s too old now to keep it a secret) or his tattoos or how he dresses and she makes sure to say this every chance she gets, but she loves him and she says that wherever she can too. He’s just felt a bit like he’s needed that recently - both the care and criticism.
Maybe it’s because he’s not been in such a domestic setting with his mother since he was eighteen, but something about this makes him feel like a teenager again. He doesn’t mind regressing for a bit; could do with the break, really.
He’s showered and changed back into his jeans and an old t-shirt, thick hair still damp as the wind cools the back of his neck. His mum had fussed over him like she does (“you’ll catch your death if you go outside like that!”) but he hasn’t had a fag since this morning and just wants to get it out of the way so he can relax for the rest of the night.
“El!” She knocks on the window and he turns to smile as his mum waves him back inside. “Come have a look at this. Dom’s bloody useless.”
“I’m not useless, the wood is damp,” he hears Dom call as Curly stomps out his cigarette and makes his way back inside.
The wood is damp and Curly can’t start the fire either. Instead, his mum and Dom share a blanket on the sofa and he hogs his own on the recliner. Dom knows how to get hold of dodgy DVDs and they watch a new thriller with Shia LaBeouf in it. It’s surprisingly comfortable, despite barely knowing his mum’s new fella, and they have a laugh and make daft narrations to make the film feel less intense, like the two of them would do back in the day.
About halfway through, Dom calls it a night (Curls reckons he’s spooked by the movie) and heads upstairs, so Curly joins his mum on the sofa and falls asleep with his cheek smushed against her shoulder sometime after Shia snogs some pretty girl on a balcony on-screen.
He remembers getting changed in the downstairs toilet but must have been half-sleepwalking when he went to bed because, when he wakes up in the middle of the night to toss his shirt off to one side, he doesn’t remember how he got there.
***
He doesn’t really take the room in until the morning; blue and green, just like he left it. A few books he never read (and never will read) still line the shelf over his desk along with old trinkets, an empty Voltswaggen Beatle-shaped piggy bank (that he considers taking back to the flat with him to store is pre-rolls so Oscar can’t nick them again) and a Gameboy Advance (that’s not worked since before he even moved to England but has a mint Finial Fantasy casing that he wasn’t prepared to sacrifice to the scrapyard, and still wouldn’t dream of it now).
Moving from England to America meant days of clearing his childhood room of shit he’d forgotten was ever even there. It’s scary just how few things of sentimental value he actually had once it came down to it. In the end, he filled a Dr. Martens box with things he just couldn’t part with, but he hasn’t got the foggiest idea where that even is now. Collecting dust in his mum’s loft, maybe.
Even without the extra baggage, Curly always had a hard time keeping on top of tidying in his room; anything from dirty washing to freshly dried laundry piling up; a ‘floordrobe’, his mum had called it. The itchy carpet is visible now he’s not there to clutter it and his wardrobe has even fewer clothes than it had when he slept in the room, which wasn’t much to begin with; too idle to buy clothes he’d never have a reason to wear.
His wardrobe in the flat isn’t exactly bursting, but it speaks volumes on his social life.
Despite the homeliness of the rest of this house, his bedroom is a weird mix of comfort and sadness. It feels familiar - the day they painted the walls was nice, and putting the bed frame up was the most hilarious two hours he’s ever shared with his mum - but it also feels lonely and cold, memories of hours spent alone when his mum was at work and the rest of the house felt too big and depressing when it was just him there to fill it.
The sound of bickering pulls him from his thoughts and Curls heads downstairs where a full English breakfast is waiting for him. His mum and Dom fall silent just as he steps into the kitchen but he’s not sure why they stand down on his account.
He decides to feign ignorance. “Morning,” he grumbles and his belly does the same.
Dom returns the greeting, says, “I was about to call you down,” as his mum smiles stiffly and slides an egg out of the pan and onto the last plate. She places it onto the table and goes back for the other two. Curly takes a seat, rubbing his palm over his chest (where his latest tattoo is exposed and still healing and itchy) as he thanks her.
The room is filled with dry coughs, sniffs and shuffling in seats as they begin to eat and, as the air thickens, he begins to wonder what exactly it was that he’d walked in on earlier. Was the argument more serious than he’d thought? It feels like somebody’s about to break some bad news and his mum keeps exchanging looks with her boyfriend, who gives the same look back as if to say no, you.
“Is everything—“ Curly begins, right as the other two say, “Elliot,” and, “Curly,” in unison. They all fall silent again, discouraged, until Curls clears his throat, asks, “what?”
For a second he thinks they’re back to square one, everyone exchanging expectant looks, pushing each other to speak. Eventually, though, Dom huffs and pushes himself away from the table, leaving the room. ‘The last thing we need is privacy,’ Curly thinks as the tension only gets thicker now it’s just the two of them.
A similar scene comes to mind: his mum sat opposite him at the kitchen table in Essex as she says “we still love each other. We’re just not in love anymore, El. Does that make sense?”
But then, Dom is a good bloke with great music taste and a mint sense of humour and everything, but Curly’s sure even his mum must see that this kind of confessional is a really unnecessary way to tell him that her six-month-old relationship isn’t working out.
His mum takes her hair down just to tie it back into a bun again, looking anywhere but in his direction, but then Dom’s back again with Curly’s bag in his hand. It’s open as he places it on the table.
So it’s not them; it’s him. Okay, well. Fuck.
Nobody says anything as Curly racks his brain for what they could possibly have seen and they seem to be waiting, giving him the chance to own up before they accuse him. His fake ID, maybe? Does he still have a bowl in there? It could be his flip phone, filled with messages from dealers and buyers, but that’s been dead since last night. Maybe she saw his knife - but that’s only there because he doesn’t like to leave it in his car, but Jules had warned him about that one bloke in Holbrook, not that he ever got around to meeting— Oh shit.
“Cocaine, Elliot?” His mum looks deflated, he now notices. She looks tired and nervous. When had she found it? This morning? Last night? How long has she-- “How long have you been taking cocaine? And in my house?”
Okay, well shit. He’s clawing for an excuse that won’t dig him into an even deeper hole as Dom pulls a chair up next to his mother. He feels like he’s back in custody. Curly slowly places his utensils down on his near-full plate.
“Mum,” he begins, swallowing just to stall. “It’s not coke.” He has to remind himself that he’s a grown up now - he doesn’t need to sit wringing his hands like a guilty child. He finds the nerve to say, “it’s heroin—“
“Oh my—“
“It’s not mine!” He can’t stand to see her the way she is: hand over her chest in shock as Dom rubs her shoulder in reassurance. So he blurts out the lies- just white lies. “It’s for a mate. I didn’t— I was meant to drop it off before I got here but it didn’t work out.” It’s basically the truth.
Dom says, “Curly do you realise—“
“I know. I know it’s bad, yeah? But it’s not mine.” He wants to say ‘I’d never do anything like that,’ but he’s trying to keep the falsities to a minimum. “He’s not even a mate, really. A friend of a friend.”
“Who? The guy you’re holding drugs for isn’t even somebody you know?” Dom again. “He’s just some—”
“Oh, wind your neck in, Dom,” he snaps, caught up in a moment's panic. He stutters a bit for more words but settles for a long groan as he pushes his plate away before burying his face in his hands. “Sorry.” He takes a few breaths, trying to gather his thoughts and figure out exactly where to go from here. He looks up again, mentally refreshed and says, “sorry. I’m sorry… For snapping and for the drugs. Listen though: I’m twenty, I’m not a mug. I know what I’m doing.”
“Yeah, so do I: you’re carrying drugs, Elliot,” his mum amends. “Is this something to do with Jules? I knew that boy didn’t seem right.”
“Mum, you met him once in a supermarket - you don’t know anything. He was buying chicken and rice, for Christ sake, he wasn’t exactly--” He huffs - pauses before he says something that’ll bite him in the arse. “Anyway, it’s got nothing to do with Jules. It’s just a favour - a one-time favour. Let’s not ignore the fact that you went in my bag, yeah?”
She shakes her head defensively, says, “for your clothes. You fell asleep in your jeans.”
He decides against saying, ‘I’ve fallen asleep in worse conditions.’ Strikes a massive, thick line right through that argument.
It takes him long enough, but he gets his mum to calm down not too long after breakfast’s gone cold. He swears he’ll keep out of it all once the H is out of his hands and he apologises again and again and then once more later on when he’s at the front door with his bag over one shoulder, saying goodbye.
“I know you’re not stupid,” his mum says when he’s hunched in on himself guiltily, buried in a thick leather trench coat and scuffing chunky black boots against the porch. “But be careful.”
Curls just nods, pulls her into a hug and presses a kiss to her cheek. “See you soon,” he says, then nods towards Dom over her shoulder before he turns towards the street.
“Oh, El?”
He turns just as he’s pushing the key into his car door.
“Give your dad a call--” she reminds him, smiling through a sigh as she folds her arms over her front like mums do. “--or he’ll keep calling me. He—”
“Misses me, I know.” He waves his hands, feels guilty. He’s seen the texts and heard the voicemails from both his dad and his sister - keeps forgetting to reply, or just can’t bring himself to do so. “I’ll call them.”
His mother nods. “I love you.”
“You too, mum,” he says as he pulls open his car door, smiles, then ducks inside.
He pulls away from the curb and has his phone pressed between his shoulder and his ear before he’s even turned out of the street.
“Jules, mate, I need a fat spliff - you won’t fucking believe what’s just happened.”
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THE SAGA OF ELIJAH AND GERTRUD-PARELL LIVES Read. Enjoy. COMMENT!!!!!!!!!
Chapter 6 Part B-Baby’s 1st Month
The bell above the door of Joe’s Sew Shop rang out as usual when Elijah Cobblepot open the door. In one hand, he carried the car seat that held his newborn son. His wife, Gertrud was right behind him, carrying her over night bag.
“Hello? Anyone here? We’re home” Elijah called out.
It only took a moment for Joe Lawson, Elijah’s boss, their landlord and the couple’s closest friend to appear in the store door. “Well, if it isn’t my favourite new family of 3” Joe smiled as he came forward to hug them. First, he hugged Elijah, them Gertrud, who he hadn’t seen in a few days. “You might not be pregnant anymore, Gertrud, but you’re still glowing.”
“Joe, you flatter.”
As the other 2 chatted, Elijah put down the car seat and carefully freed the baby from the straps and held him up.
“Here’s the guest of honour, my son!” Elijah announced proudly. “Too bad he’s sleeping though his big debut.”
Joe laughed. “No matter. He’ll wake up soon enough. Leave that bag out here in the hall and come in. Would you like some coffee?"
“Coffee sounds lovely.” Gertrud smiled.
They all went into the store, which was messier than they ever saw it.
“Wow! Did a bomb go off in here?” Elijah asked.
Joe laughed. “Not quite. See you caught me in the middle of doing inventory. It’s always been a part of my spring cleaning.”
“Spring cleaning? In October?” Elijah questioned.
Joe shrugged. “So I’m late this year.”
All 3 laughed at that, as they went round the back to Joe’s office where he poured 3 cups of coffee. They chatted about life for a while then Joe just happened to look down into the car seat.
“Hey, look who’s up! May I?”
The proud parents both nodded in smiling agreement.
Joe leaned in and scooped up the infant. “Hello there, little one. It’s your Uncle Joe!” Suddenly, Joe looked up, worried. “I’m sorry, I should’ve asked first. Do you mind if he calls me Uncle Joe?”
Elijah exchanged a beaming smile with his wife and squeezed her hand affectionately before turning back to Joe. “Of course he may call you uncle. In fact, Gertrud and I were hoping you would honour us by agreeing to our son’s godfather.”
“I’ll be delight too!” Joe exclaimed. “Wow, did you hear that? I’m going to be your godfather. Would you like that, little um-“ Joe looked up, “You know, if I’m to be his godfather, I should probably learn the boy’s name.”
Elijah chuckled as he got up to pass Joe the burp cloth. “Of course, how rude of me. Mr. Joe Lawson, please allow me to introduce Mr. Oswald Elijah Cobblepot.”
The happy threesome chatted a little more before Elijah and Gertrud decided it was time to go upstairs to their apartment to get the baby settled. Gertrud took her son
from Joe as Elijah collected the car seat and the overnight bag. Elijah went up the stairs first and was able to hold the door open for Gertrud who was shocked at what she saw.
“Wow! Would you look at this place? It’s completely spotless!”
Elijah’s smile was now bashful. “After you gave me the miracle of life, I thought that the very least I could do was make sure you and Oswald came home to a clean house. So, after I left you at the hospital last night, I came back here and did the dishes, vacuumed, dusted and even put fresh sheets on our bed.”
“Aw, Liebchen, that’s so sweet, thank you.” Gertrud looked down to see their boy nibbling her coat. “I think I better feed him again.”
Elijah took the baby so that Gertrud could ready herself by taking off her coat, settling on the couch and unbuttoning her top. Once she was ready, Elijah gave her the baby back and sealed the exchange with a quick kiss. Elijah happily watched his wife and
son for a few moments before he realized he had work to do.
“While you finished up with him, I’m going to go unpack.”
Gertrud smiled back. “Okay.”
After feeding and burping her baby, Gertrud got off the couch and went into the bedroom, but froze in the doorway and gasped for the place was not exactly as she left it. A big, colourful foil balloon that read IT’S A BOY! was tied to the end of the crib but it was safety blowing the opposite way. Beyond the crib, on the dresser, were two small vases of roses-one vase were yellow, the one was white.
Elijah stopped his unpacking and looked up. “Now, I know that lilies are your favourite, but they were all out so I hope these non-allergic roses will do.”
Her smile made him all but swoon. “Darling, you didn’t need to do all this.”
“But I didn’t” Elijah got up and went to her. “Well, not all of it. The balloon and 1 crop of roses are actually from Joe. Can you tell which one?”
Gertrud shook her head. “No. Should I?”
Elijah smiled. “Well, what if I told you that the colour of a rose means different things. Like yellow means friendship but white is eternal love. Now do you know who gave you which?”
Gertrud nodded and their lips met in a kiss. “Thank you for my yellow roses.” She teased.
“Wrong answer!” Elijah went to tickle his wife, but she squealed and jumped away. Because of the suddenly movement, the baby squirmed. Elijah took hold of his son and held him close. “Now that Oswald has his tummy full, maybe we should wash off the grit and grime of the city a little before we change him for bed.”
“Great idea” Gertrud agreed. “You’re right in front of the bathroom so could you get the facecloth while I get things ready out here?”
Elijah nodded and took Oswald in the bathroom to dampen a cloth while Gertrud picked out a new onsie, a fresh diaper and knelt before the bed after lying down a protective blanket. When he returned, Elijah gently put Oswald on the blanket and sat in the middle of the bed. The parents worked as a team to sponge bathe their baby. Since Elijah was up by the head, he ran the cloth over Oswald’s tiny head and upper body while Gertrud held the baby down. Then they switched, Elijah held Oswald in place while Gertrud washed his lower body and legs. They both worked to fasten the new diaper in place and once Elijah carefully got his son’s head though the onsie, Gertrud did up the snaps at the bottom.
“All clean!” Gertrud announced and picked up her infant and turned back to the crib. As his wife settled Oswald down, Elijah leapt off the bed and grabbed a stuffed bear. As he neared the crib, he wrapped his arm around Gertrud’s waist and peered down at his yawning boy.
“Mommy and I have a special gift for you, Oswald.” Elijah explained as he placed the teddy in a corner of the crib, safely out of reach of the newborn. “This is Oscar. He’s special because your Grandma and Grandpa Kapelput gave him to Mommy when she was a baby.”
Gertrud, while deeply touched, said nothing, just put an arm around her husband and rested her head on his shoulder.
After they watched their son drifted off to dreamland, Elijah collected him wife in his arms. “I don’t mean to bag, Mrs. Cobblepot, but I think we make the most beautiful children together.”
Gertrud beamed. “I completely agree.”
After another quick kiss, Elijah grabbed Gertrud’s hand. “Now that the baby’s settled, let’s get you to bed.”
“You sure I can’t help you with the rest of the unpacking?”
“Nah,” Elijah disagreed. “I only have a few more items to put away, besides I read somewhere that when the baby rest so should the mother. So come on,” He led her to her side of the bed. Gertrud sat down on the bed and before she could stop him, Elijah had already taken off her shoes.
“I won’t lie to you” Gertrud said as she lay down, “After days of laying on lumpy mattresses, this bed feels heavenly.”
“Well, that’s the plan. After you get the girl of your dreams to marry you, buy her a comfortable bed so she’ll never want to get out of it.”
Gertrud found Elijah’s teasing smile so damn sexy, that if she just didn’t have a baby, she would’ve jumped him right then and there. But she could do was return the kiss he gave her and say, “I love you.”
After he finished with the unpacking, Elijah laid down to Gertrud, his brow against her’s, his hand on her hip.
“It’s okay, you can go.” Said a drowsy Gertrud.
“Go? Go where?”
“Downstairs to help Joe. I know you what to. I saw your face when we walked into the store.”
It was true, Elijah did feel bad that he hadn’t reported to work in 4 days and no doubt Joe could use a hand with inventory. On the hand, he wasn’t sure he should leave his family.
“Are you sure you be alright alone?”
Gertrud smiled. “Of course. Oswald’s asleep and I’m about to join him. Go help Joe.”
“Okay” Elijah decided “but I’m taking the baby monitor with me.”
“Um.” His wife’s eyes were closed at this point.
Elijah covered her with a blanket and grabbed the monitor on his way out.
“What are you doing back here?” Joe asked when he saw Elijah in the store’s doorway.
Elijah smiled. “I got my family all settled in so I decided to give them some space to sleep and you look like you could use some help. Where do you want me, boss?”
“I guess you can start by marking down what’s on the self behind me.”
“Sure.” Elijah went to where Joe pointed and saw there was paper and pencil waiting.
After a few minutes of working in silence, Joe spoke up. “You know, I’m actually glad we got time to talk. So, do you want to tell me why you’re so upset?”
Elijah looked up, confused. “Upset? I’m not upset.”
“Oh really? I heard you knocking your furniture or whatever around your apartment. When you came down this morning, you said you were just cleaning up. I’m not buying it. What’s wrong, Elijah?”
Elijah sighed. “Oh alright. I suppose I need to talk about it.”
“Is it Gertrud? Did you two have a fight or something?”
“No. Gertrud and I are great.”
“Anxious about the baby? It’s perfectly okay for a new father to be nervous.”
“I’m not nervous about the baby.”
Joe was about to give up. “Then, what?”
Elijah sighed. “Okay, yesterday morning at the hospital, Gertrud and I got a uninvited and very, very, unwelcome guest. My father.”
“Your father? But I thought you weren’t in contact with him.”
“I’m not,” Elijah answered. “We haven’t exchanged a word in 7 months so it was quite a shock to see him there.”
“Judging from the tone of your voice, I’m guessing it wasn’t a happy reunion?”
Elijah gave him a half-smile. “It wasn’t, but what really drives me crazy is he’s the one who made me chose, I chose Gertrud and he’s still interfering!”
“I suppose all fathers worry, no matter where their children are.” Joe said softly.
Elijah laughed bitterly. “Not mine, he only lives to belittle me! He waited for me to step away so he could fling insults at Gertrud. When I told him that I changed my name to get around his stupid ban and I married Gertrud in spite of him, he called me a stupid fool and he called Gertrud a whore.”
Joe closed his eyes. “Oh Elijah, I’m so sorry.”
“Oh it’s okay” Elijah dismissed. “Personally I think what really made him upset was the fact that this fool outsmarted him. Besides, it was what he said next that really made me angry.”
“Which was?”
“He wanted a DNA test done on Oswald. Have you ever heard something so absurd? I mean, that’s why we got home so late, my wife and I spent half the morning in the lab watching our baby getting poked with needles and swaps in his mouth.”
Joe was confused. “So you’re opposed to the DNA test but you went though with it anyway?”
“Only for Gertrud,” Elijah explained. “For some reason, she wasn’t insulted, angry or anything. She just agreed to my father’s request.”
“Good.”
“Good? You think it’s good that we had to submit our newborn to DNA testing?”
Joe shook his head. “No, don’t get me wrong here. I only meant that both of your reactions were good.”
Elijah didn’t quite follow. “Our reactions?”
“Yeah, the very idea of a DNA test sickening you, I can hear it in your voice. You reject this idea because there’s not 1 doubt in your mind that Oswald isn’t yours. This proves that you trust Gertrud.”
“With my life.” Elijah confirmed.
“Likewise, by agreeing to take the test, Gertrud is proving that she has nothing to hide.”
“She shouldn’t have to prove anything! I hate this!” Elijah exploded. “My father tried to ruin one of the happiest day in our lives-our first full day with our son. Well, that’s it! When the lab calls with the results, I’m simply ignore it.”
“I don’t think that’s what Gertrud wants.”
“Why not?” wondered the younger man. “I already said she has nothing to prove, especially to a old jerk like my father.”
“I don’t think it’s that. You know, Gertrud is so happy that she has a family at last but she’s also feels guilty that she had to break yours up to get it.”
“How do you know that?”
“Gertrud told me, on the night you guys got married. My guess? She agreed because if she can prove Oswald is yours, she can get you back in your dad’s good graces.”
Elijah nodded. “That certainly sounds likes my Gertrud but I’ve told her time and again that this rift is not her fault. Besides, even if we do go in for the results, I know my father, he’ll rant and rave, probably said something insulting, in the end he’ll refuse to accept the results and the whole thing will be a big waste of time.”
“So don’t do it for him” Joe suggested. “Do it for yourself, so you can that you can say at least you tried. Do it for Oswald, for when he get older and he wonders where his grandparents are, you can tell him that you tried to bring peace to the family.”
Elijah sighed. “I hate to admit it but you’re right.”
Hours later, Elijah got ready for bed and stopped short just outside the bathroom. The sight of Gertrud, already in her nightdress, swaying in the rocking chair, humming and nursing their son, warmed Elijah’s heart. “So, this is a loving, tight-knitted family looks like. I love it!”
With a peaceful smile, Gertrud looked up and giggled. “Remember that when he’s screaming at 3 AM.”
Elijah returned his wife’s giggle with one of his own. “Do you want me to change his diaper?”
“Already taken care of.” Gertrud was done feeding him so she got up and walked the floor. When she was close enough, she gave Elijah a kiss that made his toes curl.
“Not that I’m complaining” Elijah smiled. “But what was that for?”
“For saying that you trust me with your life.”
Elijah blinked. “How did you-“
“The baby monitor, it goes both ways.”
“Oh.” Elijah crossed to the bed as he watched Gertrud put Oswald in his crib. Since his talk with Joe, hadn’t been able to get his father or what he said out of his head. Especially 1 part. “Darling” Elijah began slowly, “I hate myself for even bringing this up, but do you remember when my father stupidly said he might be Oswald’s father?”
Gertrud, who had leaning into the crib, rose up, froze and then straightened, her eyes wide. “I never slept with him, Elijah, I swear it!”
“Oh but I already knew that, beloved.” Her husband said gently, rushing to assure her. “Darling, I want to be perfectly clear here. I am not blaming or accusing you of anything. But we both know that my father’s behaviour toward women hadn’t always been …gentlemanly. So, I guess I’m asking um, did he ever try to force himself on you in any way or made unwanted advances?”
Gertrud studied his eyes. There were soft and trusting. His concern for her was genuine and tender. Anger or jealousy had no place in this conversation. He just worried for her welfare. Gertrud was so touched that she felt safe enough to tell her husband the truth. “He did ask me to go to bed with him once.” Gertrud said softly as she went to sit on bed and took Elijah’s hand. She was overjoyed that he didn’t retract it. “Just once and I refused him, of course. I kept waiting for him to fire me but he never did. The 2 of us weren’t lovers yet but I did have feelings for you. I never told you because I didn’t want to cause trouble. I never dreamt he let on about it himself. Still, I am proud that in a world full of uncertain relationships, I managed to only give myself heart, mind, body and soul to my 1 true love.”
“As did I.” Elijah whispered and kissed her before they settled in for their first night as a family of 3.
The lab tech said it would take 2 weeks to get the results and sure enough the call came very early in the morning of the 14th day. The hospital were forced to make 2 phone calls, 1 to Van Dahl manor and 1 to the Cobblepots’ private home line, for Elijah refuse to give his father any information about where he and Gertrud now lived. Elijah got dressed while Gertrud fed Oswald and then took the baby so his wife could get ready.
“I know, I know” Elijah crooned to his screaming son while attempting to get him changed. “Why shouldn’t you be fussy and carry on? This isn’t your fault. Why should you be dragged from your nice, warm crib just because your grandfather can’t or won’t accept what anyone with eyes would know was true.”
“I can hear the wind from in here.” Gertrud crossed the room to ready the diaper bag.
Elijah sighed. “I don’t think these clothes will keep him warm enough. Do we have more?”
Gertrud frowned. “Not in that size. Why don’t you take a thick blanket and swaddle him? It could calm him down too.” She suggested.
Her husband nodded and did exactly that. Oswald’s little body calmed but he still screamed.
“Hush, my boy hush” Elijah soothed, rubbed the baby’ s back and looked up. “Darling, you haven’t seen his pacifier around, haven’t you?”
Gertrud stopped in the middle of buttoning her dress and blinked. “Pacifier?”
“You know, his binky.”
His wife shook her head. “I don’t understand. I’m sorry.”
Then he saw it across the room. “No worries, my love. The soother is there on the nightstand.” He gestured with his chin.
“Oh! That’s a soother!” Gertrud rushed to get it, smiling happily that she finally understood. “Sorry, Oswald. This is what you get with an English as a 2nd language mother.”
“We don’t mind.” Elijah whispered and smiled. Gertrud held the now settling baby as Elijah put on his coat. Just as they about to head out, Elijah stopped, putting a hand on his wife’s arm. “Wait. Before we go, I just want to say no matter what my father says or does, I love you and I’m 1000% sure that our love made Oswald.”
Gertrud kissed him slow. “I love you too, Liebchen.”
They left their apartment and went downstairs to see Joe in the hallway unfolding the stroller.
“Joe? What are you doing up so early? You didn’t have to send us off.”
“I don’t mind, at all.” Joe easily dismissed. “In fact, if it wasn’t a weekday and I had to open the shop, I have half a mind to go down there with you.”
Elijah put a hand on the other man’s shoulder. “We already talked about this. I don’t want my father putting you on his hit list just because I work for you.”
Joe nodded reasonably. “Right.”
“Besides,” Elijah continued, “We’ll probably be back in time for business hours. I mean, how long can it take to say I’m you’re father, Luke?”
Joe laughed but Gertrud looked up from tucking in the baby, confused.
“Who on earth is Luke?”
Elijah couldn’t help but smile. “Nothing, darling. It’s a Star Wars reference.”
This only confused her more. There a war in the stars?”
“Careful, your American is showing.” Joe whispered to Elijah then disappeared downstairs.
Elijah put an arm around his wife as his other hand pushed the stroller out the door. “Come on, I’ll explain on the way.”
As he and his family rounded the last corner to the hospital, Elijah saw his father’s limo come into view. Everything in Elijah tensed up when he saw that his father was not exiting the car alone.
“He brought my mother into this!?” Elijah hissed to himself.
“Maybe she’s eager to meet her new grandson.” Gertrud suggested.
Wordlessly, Elijah looked at her. His poor, sweet angel! Gertrud still believed that getting the DNA results was going to bring about some kind of joyous family reunion. Elijah knew better. Before Elijah could say anything; Elizabeth spotted her son.
“Elijah! Oh, Elijah, are you all right? Are you okay?” She rushed to her son and hugged him, completely ignoring Gertrud and the baby.
With his mother’s arms around him, Elijah swallowed back a sigh but couldn’t stop his eyes from rolling. “I’m fine, Mother, truly. I’ve never been better.”
The ladies went in the hospital because the elder man held Elijah back. “Why did you bring the cook and her baby with you?!” Frederick demanded.
“What do you mean why did I bring them? Of course I brought them!” Elijah snapped. “This test concerns them as much as it does me. Will it kill you to be kind to Gertrud just once?”
“I am trying to be kind” Frederick replied. “I’m only thinking of her when I said you shouldn’t have brought her, that way she won’t be publicly shamed when it’s declared that you’re not the father!”
Elijah laughed bitterly and shook his head. “That’s not going to happen because I am the father.”
“If you’re so sure of that then why did you agree to this?”
“I didn’t agree to anything!” Elijah snapped. “My wife did and the fact that she did and so quickly, should tell you everything you need to know.”
“Frederick, get in here!” Elizabeth ordered.
As his father stalked into the hospital, Elijah met his wife’s eyes. There he saw worry, worry for him.
This won’t take long. Elijah silently reminded himself as he stepped though the door.
The 2 couples waited in a waiting room in an awkward silence for 15 minutes before they were shown into a small doctor’s office. Oswald, who had fallen asleep on their way up here, now awoke crying. Gertrud picked him up and swayed with him gently. There were 2 chairs facing the doctor’s desk. Elizabeth sat in one and gestured for her son to sit beside her, but Elijah chose to hang back and help Gertrud with the baby so Frederick took the seat. Soon after, a doctor with a clipboard appeared and closed the door.
“Good morning.” He smiled.
“Do you have the test results?” Frederick demanded, rather rudely.
“Yes, I do.” The doctor moved behind the desk before catching Elijah’s eye. “I’m sorry but you’re not the father.”
Gertrud felt all the blood drain from her face. “What?! No! That’s impossible!” She was on the verge of tears.
“You heard the doctor, slut,” Frederick said roughly. “The jig is up! Come Elijah, let’s go home.”
Elijah said nothing. He just took 2 long strides to the desk and yanked the clipboard out of the doctor’s hands before anyone could stop him.
He then read what was in front of him and turned his angry eyes to his father. “You son of a bitch!”
Oswald had quiet down so Gertrud gently returned him to the stroller before asking in a whisper “Elijah, what’s going on?”
“Well, I found this attached to the clipboard” Elijah held up a crisp, brand new $1000 dollar bill for everyone to see. “There’s also a note here, in my father’s handwriting, saying and I quote; just say that my son is NOT the father and you will get 9 more of these.” Elijah turned back to the doctor. “Where are the real test results? Did you even bother to do them?” Elijah demanded.
The doctor hung his head, ashamed of what he did. “It’s under the note.” He mumbled.
Elijah tore off the note, balled it up and dropped it on the ground, not caring where it landed. Then he studied the medical form. “Ah, here it is,” he declared and began to read aloud. “Allowing for 1% for human error, it is confirmed that Elijah Van Dahl, my name is now Cobblepot but whatever, is 99.98% the father of the newborn child, Oswald.” Elijah turned toward his father and threw the clipboard in his lap. “Read it and weep, old man.” Without a word, Elijah put 1 hand on the stroller and the other on his wife’s hip and guided both out of the office. Yet both his parents followed them down the hall, calling for him. “Elijah, wait! Elijah, we have to talk.”
“Don’t they ever know when to quit?” Elijah mumbled, annoyed and angry.
Surprisingly, it was Gertrud who stopped walking. “I think it’s best that I feed Oswald before we start the walk home. Maybe you could talk to your parents while I do that.”
Elijah tucked a lock of loose hair around Gertrud’s ear. “You’re far too good a woman to deal with this crap.”
His wife smiled. “I told you before darling, I don’t care what anyone think of me, along as I get to be with you.”
“You’ll always have me.” Elijah gave her a quick kiss before she took the baby to a quiet corner to nurse. At the same time, his parents were still shouting his name and coming closer. Elijah whirled around to face them. “What?!” He demanded. “What could you possibly have to say now?”
Frederick sighed. “Okay, so you’re the father, all right, I’ll give you that.”
“How big of you to say that now you have no choice!”
“Elijah, this didn’t have to ruin your life. You’re not the 1st member of this family to have sex with a servant which led to a mistake.”
Elijah was so angry he was surprised there wasn’t steam coming out of his ears. Father,” he began through clothed teeth, “you are so lucky I don’t believe in violence. As for your dumb comments-“
“Dumb?”
“Yes, dumb! I didn’t merely have sex with a servant as you put it; I fell in love with a woman. And my son is a miracle, not a mistake.”
Frederick wasn’t impressed. “So, now what?”
“Now, nothing. I mean, what’s the point? I feel so sorry for Gertrud; she was convinced that after the results were read, we would have a big family reunion. I knew better. I could take a million tests and you would still never accept it. But after your little stunt, I finally realized it. You don’t deserve to get to get to know Gertrud or our baby! They’re too good for you!”
“They’re too good for me?! That woman and her baby are nothing but life-low trashy gutter-snipes!” Frederick hissed.
“Then I’m nothing but a life-low trashy gutter-snipe!” Elijah fired back. “Since we both know you don’t associate with people like that, why don’t you do us all a favour and go back to your mansion. The day I left, you told Mother you could make another child, go do that! Buy a puppy, get a divorce even, but whatever you do, leave me out of it! I mean, this is goodbye. I mean it. Once I walk out that door, it’s over between us. That’s means no more bans that effects my life, no more P.I.s following us and if 1 of your friends reports that they saw me, you just let that information go in 1 ear and out the other.”
Frederick blinked. “Is that how you really want it?”
“That is exactly how I want it!”
“Enough!” Elizabeth finally cut in. “You 2 can argue until the cows come home, but Elijah” she sighed, “the bottom line is that you belong at home with your family.”
“I agree completely, Mother.”
Both his parents stared at him, then Elizabeth smiled, “then, you’ll come home?”
Elijah nodded. “Of course. But I think your meaning of family and home is very different from mine. You see” Elijah pointed to be Gertrud was finishing up with Oswald. “They’re my family now and my home is wherever they are.”
His parents were shocked into silence and Elijah realized he had nothing left to say so he turned to where Gertrud was settling the baby back into the stroller. From behind he wrapped his arms about his wife’s waist and kissed her cheek. “You ready?”
She nodded. “You?”
“Completely.”
They headed for the door, but Frederick and Elizabeth got there first, resulting in an awkward moment. Frederick looked straight ahead but Elizabeth kept her sad eyes on her son. Elijah stared at floor.
Outside, the Van Dahl’s driver, Alan, was there to open and close the car doors for his employers. As Alan moved to help Elizabeth in, he ran into Elijah and pressed a small, folded piece of paper into the other man’s hand. Read it later, Alan mouthed to his friend. The 2 men parted just as quickly as they bumped into each other. Alan got behind the wheel and drove the limo away. Elijah waited until he turned a corner before he opened the note.
He brightened as he read. “It says here that Jackson and Alan won’t share a day off until next month, but when they do, they want to see the baby. Isn’t that great?”
Elijah looked over to see that his wife was silently crying as she pushed the stroller. “Gertrud? Sweetheart, what’s wrong? What is it?”
“Elijah, I know you’re trying to be strong for me and the baby and I love you for it but it’s natural to be hurt by all this fighting with your parents.”
Elijah sighed and passed a hand though his hair. “You’re right,” Elijah said, letting his guard down. “I knew my parents might disapprove of us, but I never thought they would reject me so completely.”
“But they haven’t rejected you” Gertrud pointed out. “They’d rejected you being with me. And it’s all my fault!” Gertrud parked the stroller by a nearby bench and sat down, burying her head in her hands.
Elijah sat beside her. “Why do you think anything is your fault?” he asked softly.
His wife looked at him sideways. “Are you kidding? I’ve cost you everything, and I’m not talking about money. I mean, I’ve cost you your parents, your friends, living in the only home you’ve ever known. Maybe the children at the orphanage were right all along, maybe I am a jinx.”
Elijah scoffed. “A jinx? You?! My own real life angel, my wife, my love, my life. I don’t think so. Just look at Oswald, anyone who can make something so beautiful, so perfect cannot be a jinx.”
“Next you’ll tell me that it wouldn’t be nice to be a big, happy family.” Gertrud mumbled.
“It would be nice. It would be a wonderful. And I won’t lie, when I first saw my father from afar in the hospital the day after Oswald was born, I thought we would be. But we can’t make my parents act right. It like Joe said, all we can do is take comfort in the knowledge that we tried.”
Gertrud sniffed. “My poor Elijah, you’re going to lose people you love no matter what you choose.”
“But I’ve already chosen.” Elijah stressed. “It’s funny but I don’t remember you holding a gun to my head forcing me to pick you. In fact, I seem to recall a promise, which I broke to stay at the mansion. So if you’re a jinx, my love, then a case can be made that I’m a stalker.”
In spite of herself, Gertrud smiled. “Okay. You came after me of your own free will. But even you have to admit that it would easier if I was someone else. If I wasn’t me-“
Elijah didn’t even let her finish. “No. Don’t even go there.” Elijah stood up and dragged her up with him, so that they were face to face. “I don’t want to live in a world were you aren’t you. I don’t even want to think about it.”
“I only meant-“
“I know what you meant. You meant that it would be easier if I were in love with someone my parents approve of.”
“Well, it would!” She stressed.
“Not for me. Before I met you, all the girls I knew only thought of themselves or didn’t seem to think at all. I never met anyone like you and I mean that in the best way. Do you know why I married you? It wasn’t the baby, people co-parent everyday without marriage. I married you before I know that you’re the only one for me. I have 2 goals in life, Gertrud. To be a good father and to wake up next to you every single morning of my life, whether we live in a palace or a landfill. Now, tell me, how can I do that in a world where you aren’t you?”
Speechless, Gertrud starting crying again but only with tears of joy as she hugged him. “Elijah, I love you.”
He hugged her tight. “And I love you, my angel.”
The rest of the walk was blissfully uneventful. It did melt Gertrud’s heart even more even Elijah immediately went to retuck in their son after a cold wind turned fierce. But the real surprise was on Joe. He was in his office, working on something at his desk when the family came in to tell him they were home. As soon as Joe saw them, he stashed whatever he working on a drawer.
“What was that?” Elijah asked.
“What was what?” asked Joe, playing dumb.
Elijah smiled. “Come on Joe, we all saw it. What are you up to?”
Joe gave up. “Oh, alright.” He opened the drawer and took out a small, white, satin and lace gown. “It’s for Sunday, for the christening.” Joe explained. “I can’t let my godson go naked, now can I?”
“It’s beautiful,” Elijah praised. “Isn’t it, love?”
“Lovely.” Gertrud agreed, beaming. “I really like the lacy sleeves. They look so familiar.”
Joe blushed. “It should be. It’s the same material that I made your wedding veil out of.”
“This is going to be a great christening.” Elijah declared, and 4 days later, it was.
After the DNA results and the christening, the following days and weeks were normal and uneventful, exactly the way Elijah perferred it. He enjoyed going back to work at his normal hours, sewing, repairing and chatting with Joe. True to their word, Jackson and Alan showed up when they said would and finally, there was joy and happiness. Things were good at home too. Gertrud and Elijah both adored their baby to bits and it was challenging, yet fun, learning how to care for him together. In fact, Elijah was humming to himself at work one day when Joe came in. “You know Elijah, it kind of slow in here today. Why don’t you pack it in and go home early?”
“Are you sure? I’d be happy to stay.”
“Sure I’m sure!” Joe smiled. “There’s only 1 hour left. Plus, today is a holiday.”
Elijah raised an eyebrow. “Holiday? Today’s not a holiday.”
“Yes, it is. It’s Halloween.”
Elijah thought for a moment, he knew it was late October, but he had never forgotten Halloween before. Then it hit him. This was the first year he wasn’t making costume after costume for his parents’ gala. “Heh, I guess it is.”
“You still here?” Joe asked jokingly.
“I’m going. I’m going.” Elijah was out of the shop, upstairs and in his own home in under a minute. He expected to see Gertrud and Oswald on the sofa or somewhere nearby, but entered to a silent living room. After briefly looking around, Elijah frowned as he saw a breast pump on the kitchen island. It wasn’t that Elijah was opposed to bottles; if anything he was looking forward to being able to feed and bond with his son. The problem was that Gertrud was pumping, trying to get Oswald used to a bottle so she could go back to work in 2 weeks. That gave her a grand total of 6 weeks maternity leave. Not nearly enough in Elijah’s opinion, especially considering all the work hours she put in during her pregnancy.
“Hello?” Elijah called out. “Anyone home?”
“We’re back here.” Gertrud replied.
He found them in the bathroom, where Gertrud was bathing their son. Smiling, Elijah knelt down beside his wife. “Well, what’s all this?”
Gertrud smiled back at him. “Oswald and I thought it’d be fun to do something different today. Using the big tub because he’s such a big boy!”
“I can’t believe he’s a month old already.”
“Actually, it’s a month and a day.” His wife corrected.
Elijah watched delighted as Gertrud picked the baby up out of the tub and wrapped him in a big, fluffy towel. “A beautiful wife and a squeaky clean baby. What more could a man ask for?”
“How about a pack of diapers?” Gertrud suggested. “When I getting ready for this bath, I found out there’s only 1 left. Liebchen, would you mind terribly running down to the corner store for me?”
“Why don’t you go, love? I mean, you’ve been cooped up in this house with the baby all day. Perhaps the fresh air would do you some good.”
“Right, as always.” Gertrud kissed him before handing him the baby.
The family exited the bathroom. Elijah and Oswald headed toward the baby’s changing table as Gertrud headed to the front room before remembering.
“Oh, Oswald hasn’t been fed yet. There a bottle in the fridge.”
“Okay.”
Gertrud left as Elijah smiled down at his son. “How’s my little peanut today?” He dried, diapered and dressed the baby in warm jammies before carrying him to the kitchen to collect the bottle. Then they went into the living room. When Elijah landed on the couch, he sat on the remote, turning on the TV. He grabbed the remote and tossed it on the coffee table. He fed Oswald and paid the TV no mind until he heard;
“We’re live outside the Van Dahl mansion. As you can see behind me, the Van Dahls’ annual Halloween costume gala is in full swing but we have come in search of a bigger story. You see, there has been quite a lot of gossip that the Van Dahl’s son and heir, a young man named Elijah, has gone missing. Sources close to the family say that Elijah has not been seen or heard from in over 8 months. However, we contacted the GCPD and so far, no missing report has been filed.”
“No press! No press!” The shouting came only a moment before Frederick came into the camera’s view. “This is a private party!”
The reporter recovered quickly. “ Mr. Van Dahl, I can assure you that we aren’t here to crash your party. But many people are saying that your son has gone missing. Do you know where your son is?”
As Elijah waited eagerly for his father to answer the question, Oswald fussed in his arms. He looked down to discover that the baby had finished his meal. He put the bottle down and transferred his son to his shoulder for a burp. Elijah looked back to the TV. “Come on, now’s your chance. For once, tell the truth!”
Meanwhile, on the TV screen, Frederick laughed. “My son isn’t missing. Elijah’s in Europe studying the latest fashion trends. In fact, I just got a call from him the other day, saying that he’s going to extend his stay.”
The reporter looked confused. “But what about the rumour that some say Elijah has been spotted right here in Gotham doing odd jobs?”
Frederick shrugged. “Like you said, rumours.”
“And his romance with Constance Van Groot?”
“100% true. Of course, the engagement must pushed back a bit until Elijah’s return.”
“So, there’s a engagement in the near future?” The reporter seemed excited.
Frederick smiled. “Of course.”
They went on but Elijah had stopped listening. Bastard! He thought while he rubbed his son’s small back. You lying bastard.
10 minutes later, he had just put Oswald to bed when he heard the door.
“I got the diapers.” Gertrud informed him when they met in the hall.
“Want to tell me why you sound so bummed about it?”
“I saw the news.”
“So did I.”
“Elijah, I’m so sorry.”
He shrugged. “Don’t be. I’m not the one lying to people and promising an engagement that will never happen.”
“You’re not even upset?”
“Nope. I’m exactly where I need to be. I’m exactly where I want to be.” He reassured her with a kiss.
It may not have bothered him, but it bothered Gertrud. Later, she cuddled up against him in bed. “I have an idea,” she whispered “how about when Oswald gets a little older, we start our own family Halloween traditions?”
Elijah turned, put an arm around his wife and smiled. “Mrs. Cobblepot, you have a deal.”
#gotham#gotham fanfiction#gerijah#gertrud kapelput#elijah van dahl#oswald cobblepot#I AM THE GERIJAH WRITER!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Ginger Ambition Update
If you don’t know me, I’m assuming I’m your favorite ginger you’ve never met. If you’re reading this and you have met me however, you either have a huge secret crush on me, you’ve dated me and you’re looking for a subtle reference to yourself, or you recite my name each night as part of your Arya Stark–esque murder list. Honestly you’re more than welcome to my face, it takes an hour to put on before a first date anyway and is almost immediately ruined by excessive heat and pouting. You’d really just be saving me time at this point.
Anyway, before I can publish my drafts about receiving dick pics in my late 20′s (FUUUUUUCK), Tinder dates that result in me either A. bailing him out of jail or B. ending up at a bar that is actually a wake, and being a proud member of the girls still blacking out in Ubers while everyone else is getting engaged club, I have to get some things off my (perky) chest. It’s kind of long but typing it out will be like losing 20 pounds of emotional weight.
It’s been eight months since I got dumped. Two hundred and forty days later (I haven’t been counting I just did 8 x 30 on my phone) and I am still getting the same questions, so to avoid prolonging the graduation party effect (answering the same 5 questions on repeat the way I’m currently listening to “Look What You Made Me Do”), I am going to just put it all on the table.
I got dumped at the end of December. It was days after celebrating Christmas with his family and attending my best friend’s 90′s throwback party where everything seemed normal AF. In fact I hear he’s up for an Oscar for his portrayal of communicating, loving boyfriend. So no, it was not mutual. He had his reasons. (Sidebar: the self-control I just showed in resisting the urge to put air quotes around the word, reasons, is similar to how I felt the other night when this old dude who was buying me Coors Lights was texting Taylor Kitsch, YES – THE ACTOR, and all I wanted to do was spider monkey across the table, grab his phone, and get the digits of a B-list celeb). I felt the breakup was out of the blue. I’m sure him and I will never see eye-to-eye on it, and that’s because he’s way taller than me so it’s physically impossible. If I’ve told you “my story” in person, just skip this post. If you’ve been curious, here it is . . .
I Ubered to our apartment from the San Francisco airport (he couldn’t pick me up because he was drinking), and he was on the couch. He hadn’t unpacked from being home for Christmas yet. He got back to our apartment a day earlier. His shoes were on. I made us mac n’ cheese. I started nagging that he wasn’t eating his and it was getting cold, I even put the pepper out for you. I was snuggling our cat and asking him how much he missed his girls. He turned off the TV and said, using my full name, we need to talk. Every part of me between my throat and my belly button knotted together and tasted like acid and pennies, my limbs felt distant and heavy, I moved to him, but I felt more like I was watching myself. After we spoke (he whispered, I cried), he took his still packed bag, I tried to kiss him (I got his cheek), and I watched him walk down the hall as I so often did in the morning when he left for work before me. That was the last time I saw him. After 2 states, 4 apartments, 5 years, countless "babe, you need to double flush after that,” kitchen slow dance parties, and putting our mattress in the living room for pizza fueled sleepovers, it was done. And it is done, because I don’t believe in second chances when it comes to ex-boyfriends. At some point they always come back. Of that I am certain. It could be 5 weeks or it could be 15 years, but it always happens and I take comfort in that.
I called my best friend, she didn’t answer so I texted her husband. I called my mom. I called my sister. My best friend called back. I told my college best friends. I texted a few more girls. I told everyone I wanted to hear it from me, and gave them permission to pass it on like a shitty game of telephone, so I wouldn’t have to live it over and over. I cried myself to sleep wrapped up in a nest of blankets, pillows, and dirty clothes I made out of things that smelled like him. I woke up every hour, realized where I was, cried, fell back asleep, repeat. I left the TV on to feel less alone. The small studio, that I couldn’t wait to return to less than 24 hours prior, felt less like home and more like stumbling upon a movie set or the apartment of a stranger I follow on Instagram. I had an idea of who had lived there, how they felt, how I should feel, but I was suffocated between collections of crap full of memories I could imagine but not grasp, and inside jokes I could make an outline of, but not see. In 12 hours I had aged 5 years. Everything felt fresh, and sharp, and distant, and numb, and a thousand other emotions all at the same time and I didn’t understand how that could be.
Then I did something I never thought I would do, I just left. I took a red eye flight back to Michigan, where I was just 24 hours prior. I left all of the apartment lights on, the TV, and our Christmas tree. I cut up our favorite t-shirt then refolded it and put it in his drawer. I snapped my Harry Potter wand in half (from our 4 year anniversary trip) and put it under his pillow. I took everything of his I could see from my bed and put it in the corner. I tore every Uno card in half and left them in a pile. I wanted to break all of his Legos and throw out the directions but my mom said no, and for some reason I listened. I pulled the felt monogram I made off his nightstand lamp shade. I deleted my wedding Pintrest board. I deleted all of our pictures together from my phone. If you don’t want me anymore, I don’t see the point in lingering. If I said doing all of that petty crap didn’t make me feel better, I’d be lying. It was better than drunk Taco Bell after a sorority date party.
I took as many sweatshirts and yoga pants as I could fit in a carry on, my large suitcase, my purse, cornered our cat into her carrier, and I left the rest for him to ship. Here’s an old school story problem to give you a break from brown out figuring out how to tip and write your number of a bar tab at the same time, 1 sobbing ginger + 2 suitcases + 1 purse + 1 cat that weighs like 2 cats = this blog can write itself. But wait, there’s more! The Titanic soundtrack was playing at my gate and my Uber driver almost killed us. He didn’t understand English, so when my cat started clawing to get out of her soft side airplane regulation carrier, and I pleaded with her to stop (when it rains it pours), he slammed on the breaks - on the HIGHWAY - and said “stop? stop? stop?” I yelled, KEEP FUCKING GOING. Not a moment I’m particularly proud of, but it happened. I put in my 2 weeks notice and worked remotely, wrapping up projects, and apologizing in emails. I tried not to burn bridges. Hurt has a ripple effect not always immediately evident.
The worst part for me is knowing one day, every adventure, every nickname, every private moment we shared together will be forgotten, will disintegrate, and I will be reduced to, “that ginger I dated for like 5 years in my 20′s and had a TV show no one watched.” I will be become one of his two truths and a lie options. I won’t even have a name. He will tell some Cliff Notes version of “our story” to the daughter he has with someone else who isn’t me when it’s her heart that is broken and craves assurance there’s someone out there for everyone.
I slept on and off for the next 4 days, a very Carrie in the “Sex and The City” movie when she’s on her honeymoon with her friends instead of Big, of me to do. I never said I wasn’t dramatic. I didn’t drink. I made myself shower. I went on long walks with my parents’ dog and listened to a “Guys Are The Wooooorst” Spoitfy playlist I made. Everyone was so proud of me and impressed by how I kept it together, how I’m still keeping it together. Friends were happy to have me home, to have me so close to them. I felt wanted again. It’s not hard to act fine when he’s on the other side of the country. I wasn’t going to run into him. He never drunk dialed me, never texted. As much as distance can make things hard, it can also make things easy.
My first breakup with my first boyfriend when I was 19 was horrible. I lost a ton of weight (not in a hot way - in a, “her head is too big for her body” kind of way), I didn’t go to class, I passed out on porches, I took my anti-depressants on and off sometimes with whatever shot was on special or being handed to me. This time, simply put, I would not allow myself to be that girl again. I was like nope, too cute, too sassy, too many people who love me to go back to that. (Although it would be nice to basically fit my American Girl doll’s clothes again.) I received so many cards and presents in the mail from best friends, girls I hadn’t talked to in years, and old co-workers that I almost wish I got dumped sooner, preferably around the time of a Kate Spade Surprise Sale.
So it’s been eight months. I’m 27-years-old and I’m starting over. I’m living at home. I bought a new old car. I thought 2017 was the year I’d be planning a wedding. Now the extent of my planning is what I’m wearing to work tomorrow and what city I will visit next weekend. But you know what? I’m happy. I’m loved. I’m done settling.
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[Behold; The backstory that has way too much detail in it but I am too passionate about Morris not to give it detail:
(Also while writing this, I imagined it being narrated by Doofenshmirtz… so there’s that.)
Morris’ mother has been MIA since he can remember. It’s always just been his dad, Oscar, and himself.Hes never asked about her, and no one has ever told him.
His dad taught his sons how to fight from an early age, constantly telling them that unless they fight, they’ll be seen as weaker and won’t be heard or listened to. By kindergarten Morris could really hold his own in a fight, for a kindergartener.
Morris grew up frugally, his dad hardly being able to support them. Luckily, the tiny apartment they lived in actually belonged to them,so house payments weren’t a problem. But that didn’t mean electricity and water and food and all that other stuff wasn’t a problem. Until Oscar was old enough to get a job, some nights they went to bed without dinner. This is where Morris learned to cook so well. He taught himself how to turn a dollar or two into a full meal, using leftovers from Oscars work at the restaurant making soups and stews they could eat on for days.
Morris was held back in third grade, since he wasn’t in class half the time. He was always in trouble for fighting. He didn’t understand why fighting was so bad. That’s what his dad taught him. But even with the fighting, No one listened to him still. He didn’t understand why.
He was the school bully in middle school. He would target kids who walked too slow in the hall, or the kids whose family could afford one pair of pants that looked like it cost more than all of the clothes both he and his brother had combined.
The lunch money thief? That was Morris. Usually kids don’t carry around their lunch money anymore, [at least in my school they didn’t] but he could always tell when a kid had a few bucks on them. Sometimes he would even steal a kids lunch and eat it himself. They could live without a lunch for a day. They’d have a nice big dinner waiting for them, while Morris would only have a few bites of whatever Oscar would bring home that night. If there was ever a desert in the lunch he stole (a pudding cup, a little Debby treat or whatever) he would save it and share it with Oscar when he got home, because they never had things like that. The two would wait until their dad was asleep, and they would slowly eat it, savoring each bite. Once Oscar came home with a bag full of home made cookies, saying he stole them from a bake sale. They are one every week, freezing the rest of them. (Their dad never looked through the fridge or the freezer anyway since Morris was always the one to cook the meals.) The cookies lasted a few months, and those were some of the best times Morris could remember.
When Morris was a freshman and Oscar was a senior, Oscar had his 18th birthday. They had a modest party, the three of them, and Oscar got a baseball from Morris (that was stolen) and their dad gave Oscar his very old baseball glove. Oscar almost cried. The next day, their dad was no where to be seen, but 500 bucks was sitting on the counter with a note, telling them to take care of each other.
They haven’t seen their dad since.
Morris made himself get a job at the thrift store where they did all their shopping, knowing Oscar couldn’t support both of them alone.
The hours were small, and the pay was even smaller, but at least they had a little money from it. It also gave Morris something to do other than sit around all afternoon after school, since his homework wasn’t a priority.
That’s when Morris’ eyes locked with his first true love, besides food, of course. There sat a pair of old tap shoes. And for some reason, Morris bought them. Once he put them on at home, he had no idea what he was doing but he taught himself, and now he hardly ever takes them off.
Especially, because during his sophomore year, Oscar didn’t come home one night after work.
He went out looking and found Oscar near their house, having gotten in a really bad fight. After helping Oscar inside and getting his wounds all fixed up, all Morris could only think of was what their dad had taught them when they were so young. “No one will respect you if you don’t make them fear you.” Morris told Oscar that he wasn’t respected. Other kids who weren’t mean seemed to get way more respect than Morris.
After talking about their individual experiences growing up, they both finally came to the realization that their dad was wrong. Both of them vowed then and there to change their ways. No more stealing or hurting others, even if they were financially broke.
But it was hard to keep all that anger inside himself. Somedays when he would get home, he and Oscar would fight each other because there seemed to be no possible way of getting anger out, other than fighting.
As the years progressed the brothers fighting happened less and less, and tap dancing and cooking started more and more.
Now, the summer after his junior year of high school, he’s still kept that promise. No one talks to him at school, and he doesn’t talk to them, but he doesn’t hurt then like he used to.
He doesn’t talk to anyone but Oscar really, who soon realized that now that Morris wasn’t always angry all the time, he was actually a pretty lonely teenager, who just wanted some friends. Hence Tumblr came about.
He uses the laptop that the school lent him, since he obviously can’t afford his own, and he can’t afford a smart phone either. He’s actually been made fun of for his dinky little flip phone, that’s really only for emergencies. But he didn’t punch them like he wanted to, so that was good.
Morris isn’t shy. For the past few years he’s forced himself to stay away from people because if he gets angry his fists go flying. But he’s trained himself to be able to hold that anger back, so now he’s at an awkward middle ground where he’s used to staying away from people but he doesn’t have to if he doesn’t want to. It’s weird, but he somehow makes it work.]
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**Yawn**
I galloped out of the house this morning. GALLOPED!
The house had finally descended into some semblance of peace and I took every advantage, slung on my bags, grabbed the keys and escaped. I have absolutely no idea what chaos might have kicked off after I left…but I wasn’t there to witness it, so I didn’t care!
Bonkers morning.
I had to be in for 8am this morning. My boss had a videoconference scheduled with the Zurich office. Being a global telecommunications company this means getting the videocon to work SHOULD be easy, but it very rarely is. So I wanted to be there to get it started. I live quite a commute from the London office – between 1hr 40mins and 2 hours – so, working backwards, I would have to be out the house by 6am at the very latest. That meant the alarm going off at 4am.
So far, so good - on paper.
Last night, met up with a few of the Beds South RSPCA team to run through some plans and ideas we have for a ‘Crafternoon Tea’ event we’re planning on Sunday 19th November. It’ll be held a Parkside in Ampthill and we’ll be inviting people to sell their wares at various tables, running a Bake Off and serving teas/coffees and cakes. Going to be heaps of fun and we’ll hopefully raise a fair bit of money for the Branch ahead of the Festive Season - which is always expensive when caring for animals. Get it in the diaries if you’re in the area!
It was great meeting up and I always come away from these get-togethers very energised. And so wasn’t all THAT tired when I got home. Made a big fuss of Oscar when I got in and then let him out the back door. It was getting quite late – especially for a 4am start the next day – but I had fingers crossed he wouldn’t stay out too late.
But OF COURSE he did, didn’t he…?
Had made a fuss of Freya and she’d done her normal wanna go out, wanna come in, wanna go out while I was getting myself ready for bed. Sat with the foster girls for a little while. They’re both SO affectionate. Really incredible given the dreadful circumstances they’ve come from. They’re still largely wee-stained and don’t seem ready to start grooming themselves yet, so was trying out a suggestion of dabbing some tuna juice on their paws and stuff, to encourage them to lick it off. They sure liked the tuna juice in the bowl I’d brought up ….but then seemed more interested in larking about than washing.
Ah well….I hoped they’d have a go during the night.
Still no sign of Oscar….**sigh** By now I was starting to get really tired…and was watching the clock just nudge past 11.30pm.
Now I KNOW it sounds crazy…..I KNOW this cat was a stray for a good few months, hanging around the front of Tesco during the deepest winter months. I KNOW he survived JUST FINE in those conditions. But that doesn’t change the fact that I worry about him when he’s out and really don’t sleep well if I lock him out overnight. I’m usually kept awake by my own dreadful imagination. So I’ve taken to sleeping on the couch with the conservatory door open so he can come back in his own good time – usually after 2am…and I can ward off any burglars…erm….
And he doesn’t sneak back in either. He announces he’s home loudly with a series of Oscar-sized miaows and will promptly jump onto the couch and bother me for a cuddle and food. Not the food I’ve left out for him, mind – no. That’s now a few hours old so just won’t do and is ignored. He wants FRESH food. So whatever time he gets back means me getting up, locking the back door, feeding Furry Chops and then dragging the duvet back up to bed.
This morning, however, that Oscar activity (at 2.30am) was enough to set off the girls…who then started playing in their room. They’re only little things but they make quite a racket…especially when they start chasing each other. I worry about the neighbours because there’s quite a bit of loud thudding goes on. Pretty sure their bedroom doesn’t back onto mine (and Ray next door is elderly and hard of hearing) but I still get a little anxious when they’re crashing and dashing at that time of the morning.
So, in these instances, I usually go in and sleep on the floor with them. I started doing this when I got my first foster, little Shadow, and she would start playing and chasing things in the wee hours. The intention was to, more or less, ‘get in the way’ by sleeping on the floor and encourage them to quieten down and go back to bed.
This worked with Shadow. It also worked with Genie and Susie.
It isn’t working with Gina and Flora.
A new game has, in fact, been developed around ‘The Lady in The Way’. The aim is still to chase each other around the room – but now there’s the added extra of leaping OVER The Lady In The Way! And then back again! And again! And again! Despite Lady In The Way making ‘sssshh!’ noises!
Within a very short space of time, I’d sustained several scratches on my head and arm – when one or the other hadn’t quite cleared The Lady In The Way.
But every time I sat up and tried to quieten them, they’d turn on the purr and cuddle offensive. And Flora LOVES to have her belly stroked.
And then I’d try to lie down and get some sleep and two purry faces - smelling faintly of wee and now tuna juice as well - would push their cold little noses in my face. Or one or the other would lie on top of me. Which was making me nervous because they’re so slight – and I’m worried I turn in my sleep and crush them!
Of course, that would entail actually being able to go to sleep, now, wouldn’t it??
Flora stops charging about to start noisily crunching some biscuits.
I’m now hiding their one toy underneath the duvet with me because they keep battering the ball around it.
More charging around. More Leap Over The Lady. More cuddling and purring. More tickling.
Starts to quieten down.
Gina decides to have a very smelly poo.
More purring. More headbutting me in the face. Flora does her best imitation of being a scarf with her back legs up my nose.
…..and at some point somehow I must have fallen asleep. For, what could only have been, a scant few minutes.
That was just so that the alarm could wake me at 4am.
I lie there for a few minutes. The girls are in their snug, cuddled up to each other and peering at me.
They decide that’s their cue for some more snuggles and purring and head butting. I can’t help but smile as I’m giving them a tickle. They’re SO loving and affectionate!
After 10 mins or so, I drag myself up and out their bedroom. I take their ball toy with me because I don’t want them making a racket at 4.10am.
I’ve already decided that, because I have-to, have-to catch a particular train and don’t want to leave Oscar locked out all day (won’t be home ‘til 8-ish), that I’m not going to risk it and so won’t let him out. This is going to mean Oscar is in a bad mood. He’s not a morning-cat anyway. And, so’s not to upset apple-carts by opening the back door for Freya, I’m not going to let her out either. There are plenty of litter trays around the house.
I’m in the shower and start hearing a helluva clattering and bashing and thudding. Peer out from the shower curtain. It’s Oscar. He’s got the ball toy I’ve confiscated from the girls and is battering seven bells out of it. I try to shush and hiss him from the shower but I’m being ignored. I’m being ignored because he’s grumpy in the morning and I’ve gone for a shower instead of letting him out.
Jump out the shower and shoo him off. He heads downstairs. Promptly picks a fight with Freya who is waiting for the back door to be opened. Freya yells the place down, hissing furiously and runs for her bookshelf. Oscar chases her and there’s all sorts of thudding and crashing as Freya jumps onto the one shelf then the upper shelf, followed by Oscar who is only agile enough to make the lower shelf.
And this then was pretty much the next, nearly two hours while I’m trying to get ready for work. The girls upstairs start chasing each other around noisily, Oscar keeps bothering Freya who is having none of the fact that I’m not opening the back door so keeps jumping off her shelf (noisily) to stand at the back door. To then be ambushed by Oscar who wants out as well. More yowling and hissing, more jumping all over the shelves. The girls crashing about upstairs. Me, up and down the stairs, either trying to shush the girls by fussing them and turning their play into purring and cuddling or hissing between gritted teeth at Oscar and Freya.
At one point, I think “I know, I’ll let Gina and Flora out of the spare bedroom. A little wandering about the house might quieten then down to at least give me long enough to get my knickers on the right way ‘round.” So I open the door and Flora makes a dash for the gap.
Terrific….suddenly Oscar and Freya appear – in unison – from behind me when NANOSECONDS ago they were downstairs chasing and hissing. Flora and Freya freeze at the sight of each other. Oscar – the big buffoon he is – goes barrelling into the bedroom scaring Gina into a giant furball. More hissing and hysteria from, now, all blummin’ FOUR of them!
I trip over the ball toy trying to get to Oscar and then that’s ME crashing about noisily in the spare bedroom.
I grab Oscar. He’s not in the mood for being lifted. And, it seems, he has a magic knack of doubling in weight when he doesn’t want to be lifted. So he weighs a ton, and I have to climb OVER Freya and Flora who are still frozen and staring at each other….and carry Oscar down the stairs. He’s now hissing at ME! With some wriggling, manage to get the door to the conservatory open and put Oscar in the conservatory. He’s really fed up with me and takes a swipe. I go upstairs with the intention of breaking the spell keeping Freya and Flora in suspended animation and get Freya into my room. I try a little gentle ‘shush-shush-shush’ as I’m nearing the top. Freya turns and bolts down the stairs nearly taking me out and charges noisily back onto her shelf.
I go back upstairs to see Flora climbing back into her concertina file and Gina staring at me wide-eyed from her snug. Everything was my fault, her face was saying…everything in the whole wide world. I close the door on them breathing a sigh of relief that they’re still safe.
Took me 15 minutes to coax Freya down from her shelf using treats and finally, FINALLY get her into my bedroom where I leave her and food and biscuits for the day. If Oscar is in a BAD mood, best I keep them separated. I go in and check the girls. Flora pokes her head out from the concertina file but it’s just to give me a reproachful glare. Gina also isn’t looking like she’s forgiving me any time this century.
I go downstairs and let Oscar out the conservatory. He hates me too….and won’t come out of the conservatory but is sitting giving me daggers.
But it’s enough…..there is, for the first time ALL morning – and we’re talking pretty much since 2.30am – there’s silence in the house. Every cat hates me….but it’s QUIET for the first time in hours. I close my eyes. I am sooooooo sleepy! But, take the opportunity while you can! I do one last run around the house, making sure every cat has plenty to eat and the trays are clean. Then I grab all my stuff and charge out the door.
“Honest, when I left, the house was quiet Your Honour….”
x
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